<![CDATA[Sim Weekly]]>https://simweekly1.substack.comhttps://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!tGyl!,w_256,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F623c793d-542e-4385-b88a-050b7d627f9c_400x400.pngSim Weeklyhttps://simweekly1.substack.comSubstackWed, 04 Nov 2026 10:34:42 GMT<![CDATA[This sim sale is unreal 🤯]]>https://simweekly1.substack.com/p/this-sim-sale-is-unrealhttps://simweekly1.substack.com/p/this-sim-sale-is-unrealThu, 29 Oct 2026 12:04:35 GMTHey, Golfers!

If you’ve been waiting to pull the trigger on your sim setup, now’s the time: Shop Indoor Golf is giving up to 25% off from now through December 14th.

Also in this week’s issue: the newly dropped TGL schedule, 2 tournaments you can play in, and new sim tech.

Let’s tee it up! ⬇️

👀 The Three-Putt: 3 Golf Picks You Can't Miss

📰 Must-Read: Season 5 of the NEXT Golf Tour starts soon. Here’s how to get in on the action. Read →

⛳ Must-Try: Uneekor owners, Uneekor’s Fall Tournament Series starts with qualifying Nov 1–7. You’ll compete in your ball-speed division for $1,500 gift cards, EVNROLL putters and more. Get the details →

👀 Must-See: Remember last week when @colemangolfs started building DIY force plates? He already finished, and the whole build cost $250. You can make your own. Watch →

💬 TGL Talk

The TGL 2027 Season schedule is finally here.

The season kicks off on December 27th. Are you tuning in?

🔥 Sim Steals and Golf Deals

Top Deals:

Golf Simulator Packages

👀 Sim Watch (New in golf tech!)

Golf VX Quantum

Golf VX wants you off the flat mat. Its new Quantum simulator has a multi-axis swing plate that tilts to match the virtual course: uphill, downhill, sidehill, and ball above or below your feet. It offers more than 1 million terrain variations, plus hitting surfaces that simulate fairway, rough and bunker. You can buy Quantum for home or commercial setups, or try it at select Golf VX locations.

See how Quantum works →

New Arccos Dashboard

Arccos is bringing your game to desktop. The new round editor shows the whole hole on screen. You can drag shots into place, swap clubs, or fix your putts, and your stats update as soon as you save. You can also compare two clubs side by side, dig into your Strokes Gained, and let your coach view your data. Nothing gets shared until you approve it.

See what’s new →

🏆 Reminder: Claim the Pureplay Bounty

Is your home course on the Golf Digest Top 100? Then you could take home a serious prize. We’ve teamed up with Pureplay on a bounty: champion a Top 100 course and get it signed with Pureplay, and you’ll win a Spectrum Element launch monitor plus a free year of Pureplay.

Claim your course →

🏌️ Our Quest for the Best AI Fitting Tool Continues: Eldrick Takes a Swing

Eldrick's recommended specs and next-step options

Last week we put Kinetixx Fit to the test (read that review here). This week it’s Eldrick’s turn, and it raised the bar.

I expected the usual online fitting: type in a swing speed, get told to buy a stiff shaft, done. Instead, Eldrick interrogated me like a real fitter would.

It wants everything. Launch angle, spin, carry, peak height, attack angle, dynamic launch, plus your current club specs (swing weight included) and how you feel about that club. Then it asks the question most tools skip: what are you actually trying to fix? Two golfers with identical numbers might want totally different things. One is chasing distance, the other just wants to stop missing right. Eldrick factors that in.

It doesn’t punish you for missing data. Every input has a “Don’t know” toggle. If you own a launch monitor, you can scan your numbers in instead of dragging sliders.

Even the loading screen is fun. While it crunches your data, you play a putting game on a sloped green, par 2 every hole.

The results go deep. You get a full spec sheet covering length, loft, swing weight, shaft flex and weight, head type, and the exact adapter setting to hit your recommended loft. That’s the kind of detail you’d normally only get from a fitter standing next to you.

The catch: Block out some time and have your launch monitor data and club specs ready before you start. Every “Don’t know” gives the tool less to work with.

Verdict: 4.5/5. It’s the closest thing to an in-person fitting you’ll find in a browser. The half star comes off only for the homework it asks for up front.

🔦 Sim Spotlight

A simple sim is still a sim. Check out this budget outdoor sim and share your thoughts…

That’s it for today, golfers! Until next time!

Our Resources

Disclaimer: we may make a small commission when you purchase off of our links. Thank you for supporting Sim Weekly!

]]><![CDATA[DIY force plates, Rory’s traveling gym & more]]>https://simweekly1.substack.com/p/diy-force-plates-rorys-travelinghttps://simweekly1.substack.com/p/diy-force-plates-rorys-travelingThu, 22 Oct 2026 12:04:35 GMTHey, Golfers!

This week’s issue has something for both sides of the sim world.

Thinking about running a sim business? Don’t miss our conversation with Michelle Edgar, a PGA pro who paid off her one-bay Dallas facility’s simulator in three months.

Shopping for your own setup? We’ve got this week’s deals, new software from Rapsodo and Foresight, and round two of our hunt for the best AI club fitting tool.

Plus: DIY force plates and Rory’s gym on wheels.

Let’s tee it up! ⬇️

👀 The Three-Putt: 3 Golf Picks You Can't Miss

📰 Must-Read: Check out the tips Rory shared during his “Playing the Long Game” talk at Bloomberg’s weekend event. Watch →

⛳ Must-Try: Before you buy, figure out what type of sim you’re after and set your budget. Golf Digest put together a helpful breakdown. Watch →

👀 Must-See: Rory McIlroy just partnered with DP World, and the deal includes a seriously impressive traveling gym, complete with strength and cardio equipment, a cold plunge and an infrared sauna. Take a look →

💬 TGL Talk

There are changes afoot in the TGL lineup. Here’s a quick glance of who’s in and who’s out.

🔥 Sim Steals and Golf Deals

Top Deals:

Golf Simulator Packages


Launch Monitor


Golf Gear

👀 Sim Watch (New in golf tech!)

Open Source Force Plates

Colemangolfs, the Instagram creator behind the open-source launch monitor Open Flight, has his sights set on a new golf gadget: force plates. Using aluminum plates, load cells, an Arduino and 3D-printed parts, he’s documenting the whole build.

Watch the announcement and follow along →

Rapsodo Apps & Studios

Along with the new MLM2XPro, Rapsodo introduced a suite of new tools. The new mobile and PC apps give Rapsodo owners enhanced practice tools, performance insights and compatible sim experiences without a hardware upgrade.

Another headliner is a Studios membership ($399.99/year). It includes everything in Rapsodo Core, profiles for up to four family members, the full 4K course library, and On-Course Practice on a compatible PC. It’s new sim software with real-world physics, 4K graphics and some of the most sought-after courses in golf.

Check out Rapsodo’s new golf ecosystem.

Foresight App Update

Foresight owners can now update firmware on supported launch monitors (GC2, GC3, GC3s, Launch Pro and LPi) straight from the mobile app, with no laptop or cables required. The update also adds full support for the new GC2, letting you customize the shot data shown on the device and save your screen layouts.

Bonus: Use the app to try the drill Ludvig Åberg runs in this video.

🏌️ One Bay, No Staff, Paid Off in Three Months: Michelle Edgar on Building The Golf Suite

The Golf Suite indoor golf

Michelle Edgar is a Class A PGA Professional and Director of Instruction at a Dallas club. She is also the owner of The Golf Suite, an unmanned, 24/7 single-bay simulator facility inside a gym and physical therapy space, and the founder of Indoor Golf Consulting. Her market has gone from one competitor to what she describes as one on every block. We asked how she built her business, what changed along the way, and what she would tell the next person starting out.

Walk us through your planning process. Where did you start?

The Golf Suite is a one-bay facility because I didn’t have any investors and didn’t want a lot of overhead. So I started by calculating how much I would need to charge to cover my expenses and the initial investment in the simulator itself. I paid off the simulator in three months.

How did you land on your pricing model?

I did membership only for about two years. Then so many others started opening up and allowing walk-ins that I had to step back and re-evaluate. I’ve since started allowing walk-ins, which brings in revenue I didn’t see before, but I’ve had fewer membership sign-ups. Before, people were forced into a membership if they wanted to use the suite. Now they can just walk in. There are pros and cons.

Why Foresight equipment?

I wanted the best I could get. If someone is going to pay $70 to hit balls for an hour, I’d better have the most accurate, top-of-the-line technology.

What surprised you most once you opened the doors?

How many shanks and mishits can happen. I’ve had to add a lot of extra padding over the years because of holes in the ceiling, the walls and so on. Be prepared for holes everywhere. Things will definitely get hit.

What’s next for The Golf Suite?

The Dallas market is extremely oversaturated. Some places that opened years ago, like me, have closed, because most commercial leases run five to ten years and once that first lease is up, they’re done. It will be interesting to see the turnover and whether the market becomes unsaturated again. Golf is huge here, so I’m sure it will never die down.

What would you tell someone who is where you were a year or two ago, just starting to plan?

Don’t bite off more than you can chew. Why go into debt trying to buy six simulators when you can start with one? See how it goes, then use that profit to buy more.

Read the full interview →

Michelle also explains how 10pm troubleshooting calls turned into a consulting business, why lessons are her best membership driver, and what sets a one-bay suite apart. Read the full story on our site.

That’s it for today, golfers! Until next time!

Our Resources

Disclaimer: we may make a small commission when you purchase off of our links. Thank you for supporting Sim Weekly!

]]><![CDATA[Win a spectrum launch monitor! ]]>https://simweekly1.substack.com/p/win-a-spectrum-launch-monitorhttps://simweekly1.substack.com/p/win-a-spectrum-launch-monitorThu, 15 Oct 2026 12:04:31 GMTHey, Golfers!

This week, TGL’s shape-shifting green is now available for home sims, as long as you’ve got $35K to spare.

We’ve also got a bounty on the world’s best courses and our honest review of an AI fitting tool.

Let’s tee it up! ⬇️

👀 The Three-Putt: 3 Golf Picks You Can't Miss

📰 Must-Read: We’ve got more golf data than ever at our fingertips, but this one is worth your time: 5 Statistics That Will Change The Way You Play Golf.

⛳ Must-Try: Now through November 25, Golf Sim Leagues is giving away £20,000 in prizes. Learn more here.

👀 Must-See: This athletic club is building a 6 bay sim…and documenting the full process. Follow along here.

🔥 Win a Spectrum Element launch monitor (plus a full year of Pureplay!)

Pureplay, the photorealistic sim golf platform built on Unreal Engine, wants the world’s best courses in its library, and it’s asking golfers to help get them there.

Here’s how the Top 100 Bounty works. You pick any course from the Top 100 Golf Courses of the World list and enter to champion it. Pureplay sends you the information to pass along to the course. The first person to get a signed agreement back wins a Spectrum Element launch monitor and a full year of Pureplay, free.

It’s free to enter, and you don’t need any connection to the course. If your home club or the course you’ve always wanted to play is on the list, this is your chance to get it into the sim.

Pick your course and claim the bounty →

Terms and conditions apply. If you approach a course, you must disclose that you could win a prize if they sign. Official rules.

🔥 Sim Steals and Golf Deals

Top Deals:

Golf Simulator Packages


Launch Monitor


Other Golf Tech


Golf Gear

👀 Sim Watch (New in golf tech!)

Full Swing VG3: TGL’s moving green, now for your home

TGL’s GreenZone, the green that reshapes itself to match whatever course you’re playing, was one of the league’s most talked-about features. Now Full Swing is bringing that same technology home with the VG3.

It’s a compact, motorized putting surface that lets you program breaks, slopes, and contours, so you can practice reads you’d never get on a flat mat. The price is $35,000.

Voice Caddie SL Mini: a new challenger to Mileseey

This week, Voice Caddie launched the SL Mini, a laser and GPS hybrid rangefinder with a color touchscreen. It calculates slope automatically and has a tournament mode for when you need it off. On the green, Putt View shows an arrow pointing the direction of the break.

Better yet: there are no subscription fees.

🏌️ We tried an AI fitting tool. Here’s our honest review.

I went into the Kinetixx Fit process for a driver and a set of irons expecting a glorified quiz. I came out impressed.

The experience is about as easy as it gets. The interface walks you through each step without jargon or guesswork, and it never feels intimidating, whether you’re a low handicapper or just starting to take the game seriously. The real standout, though, is the flexibility. You can tweak your inputs, jump back to earlier steps, and fine-tune answers as you go. It feels less like filling out a questionnaire and more like working through a fitting with someone who’s actually listening.

The catch: bring your numbers.

This is not a fitting you can breeze through on your lunch break. To get recommendations worth trusting, you need hard data: your swing speed, carry distances for each club, and the specs of your current setup (shaft weight, for example). Show up without them and you’re guessing, and the results will only be as good as what you put in. Before you start, spend some time on a launch monitor, or at the very least check the specs stamped on your current clubs.

Bottom line: Come prepared and Kinetixx Fit is a flexible, user-friendly way to get a legit fitting without leaving the house. Just do your homework first.

Rating: 4/5. The one star we took off is for the data requirement. The tool itself earned the rest.

That’s it for today, golfers! Until next time!

Our Resources

Disclaimer: we may make a small commission when you purchase off of our links. Thank you for supporting Sim Weekly!

]]><![CDATA[First look: BenQ's AK900ST (we saw it in person)]]>https://simweekly1.substack.com/p/first-look-benqs-ak900st-we-saw-ithttps://simweekly1.substack.com/p/first-look-benqs-ak900st-we-saw-itThu, 08 Oct 2026 12:02:54 GMTHey, Golfers!

Last week, we hopped on a flight to Dallas for a first look at BenQ’s newest sim projector, and we’re giving you the first look.

PLUS: costs to consider when launching a golf sim business, a roundup of the new wave of launch monitors, deals, a fresh giveaway, and more.

Let’s tee it up! ⬇️

👀 The Three-Putt: 3 Golf Picks You Can't Miss

📰 Must-Read: @coolgolfjobs is bringing you the 10 coolest opportunities in the sport this week, from Delta Airlines to Malbon.

⛳ Must-Try: aboutGOLF is putting $500 on the line. Compete for the lowest 9-hole score at Spyglass Hill for your chance to win the prize!

👀 Must-See: This product allows you to automatically track your on-course shots and record video clips…no tripod setup required.

📽️ BenQ’s New Projector

BenQ is dropping a new sim projector, and we got a first look.

We flew to Dallas to see the new AK900ST in action. Spoiler: We came away quite impressed. Here’s everything you should now about the unit ahead of its mid-October launch.

BenQ AK900 golf simulator projector demo bay with a curved screen enclosure at Carl's Place

Head-to-head:

The folks at Ben Q were not afraid to put their AK900ST next to a high end commercial unit: The Panasonic VMQ65BU. They ran the same course in the same software on the same screen, and in our opinion, the difference was quite obvious.

Where the BenQ unit pulled ahead:

  • Clarity. There was No fizz or pixelation. From the blades of grass and to the rolling waves in the background, the course image looked crisp and natural.

  • Color. Their team’s color research paid off. They spend time comparing five turf swatches from five famous courses, making sure their projector didn’t flatten it to one color. The result? BenQ’s colors read brighter and more like turf.

  • Depth. BenQ’s image had a stronger sense of where thing actually sat on the screen, making the course feel more immersive.

Cool setup features:

  • Curved-screen warping. Pixel-level warping with progressive control points, built for curved enclosures and off-angle installs.

  • Automatic screen detection. A built-in camera and ToF sensor find your impact screen’s edges on their own, so you don’t spend an hour nudging corner points with a remote.

What we still need to confirm:

This was a launch event, so a few details are TBD, and you’ll need to make sure specs match your setup…

  • Price and availability: We believe it will be listed at $5,999 and available later in October via BenQ and authorized BenQ resellers.

  • Throw distance. The demo bay was built around this projector. You’ll need to check the throw math against your actual distance to the screen and screen size.

  • Your software. Check on how it behaves with your launch monitor’s software color profiles, 4K handshake, and aspect handling.

Overall, it was a very cool event, and we’re counting down to the launch. The future is bright for BenQ sim projectors!

Read more about the experience here.

🔥 Sim Steals and Golf Deals

Top Deals:

Golf Simulator Packages


Projectors & Accessories


Golf Gear

Golf simulator business startup costs

Thinking of making your 5–9 hobby your 9–5?

If you’ve ever finished a late session in your garage bay and wondered whether you could do this for a living, you’re not alone.

AllBooked by Skedda just released a breakdown of what it really costs to open a golf sim business. It draws on two operators who run sim businesses, Nick Notto of Pin High PGH and Brian Stenson of Golf630, plus Yardstick Golf.

A few things that surprised the owners:

  • Construction, not tech, was the biggest check.

  • Only 2 of 8 insurers would write Brian a policy.

  • Google Ads looked cheap day to day, but month to month, things started to add up.

The ballpark for a 2–4 bay setup is $100K or more, with payback in 6–12 months at minimum. AllBooked’s guide covers every line item in between, including how a 24/7 unmanned facility keeps its payroll near zero.

Read the full breakdown on AllBooked →

👀 Sim Watch (New in golf tech!)

Spoiler alert: Everybody’s launching new launch monitors just in time for the holidays.

Rapsodo MLM2XPro

We’ve been reporting for weeks that this was coming, but until now all we had was the name. Golficity just got a first look. Here’s what’s new:

  • Speed. It’s 4x faster, so your numbers show up almost the instant you make contact.

  • Built-in level check. A new screen on top tells you whether the unit is level.

  • Better tripod. Much easier to adjust.

  • Putting. It now reads putts too.

  • Price: $899.99

It isn’t available yet but should launch in the coming weeks.

Foresight GC2

Foresight wants to put its camera-based accuracy within reach of more golfers, and the GC2 is how it plans to do that. Units start shipping October 9–15.

  • Measured, not estimated. Radar units sit behind you and use algorithms to estimate impact. The GC2 uses two high-speed cameras to capture impact directly.

  • Indoor or outdoor. Built for both.

  • Connectivity. Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Ethernet and USB-C.

Reserve yours →

That’s it for today, golfers! Until next time!

Our Resources

Disclaimer: we may make a small commission when you purchase off of our links. Thank you for supporting Sim Weekly!

]]><![CDATA[👀 Play in This FREE Golf Sim League]]>https://simweekly1.substack.com/p/play-in-this-free-golf-sim-leaguehttps://simweekly1.substack.com/p/play-in-this-free-golf-sim-leagueThu, 01 Oct 2026 12:04:54 GMTHey, Golfers!

Fall is officially here. That means more rounds inside, and more reasons to make your setup work harder. This week we’ve got a free league you can join today, three new pieces of golf tech worth a look, and a quick question about Black Friday.

Let’s tee it up! ⬇️

👀 The Three-Putt: 3 Golf Picks You Can't Miss

📰 Must-Read: Shopping for a new shaft? Next Round Golf's Ultimate Shaft Buying Guide explains choosing between flex, weight, and fit so you can buy with confidence.

⛳ Must-Try: BagTag is here, and is basically the Goodreads for golf. Check it out, and start ranking and reviewing all the courses you’ve played.

👀 Must-See: Collectible golf balls, sleek bags, and more. Here are a few golf startups worth having on your radar.

👀 Sim Watch (New in golf tech!)

Here’s what’s new in the world of sim golf / golf tech this week.

Ovr Performance Force Plates

Your launch monitor tells you what the club and ball are doing. Force plates tell you what you are doing: how you load, shift, and push energy into the ground through the swing. Until recently, that data mostly lived in fitting studios and pro academies.

Ovr Performance’s new plates bring it home. There’s no subscription and no app required. You step on and get your data. They’re not cheap, but if you want to understand where your consistency is coming from (or getting lost), they’re worth a look.

Apex Golf

New AI golf apps seem to launch every week, but Apex is focused on something most golfers struggle with: practicing with a plan. It builds personalized drills and gym sessions for you, then adjusts your schedule each week based on how you performed the week before. It fits practice around your life, not the other way around.

Birdi Lens Smart Glasses

Think Meta glasses, but built for the course. Birdi Lens promises precise distances to the green, course visualization, and real-time scoring right in your line of sight.

They also work off the course. You can take calls, reply to messages, navigate with maps, and translate languages, all without Wi-Fi.

🔥 Sim Steals and Golf Deals

Top Deals:

Golf Simulator Packages


Launch Monitor


Projectors & Accessories


Golf Gear

🏌️ Play Golf Sim Leagues FREE

Always wanted to try a competitive sim league? Now’s your chance. Golf Sim Leagues, a new competition league on GSPro, is letting players join free through November 25th.

Here’s how it works: one round per week, up to 100 players, and a weekly prize pot of $330 per division.

Timing matters here. A new 6-week competition kicks off October 14th, so sign up now so you’re ready for the first round.

👉 Grab your free spot here

🔦 Sim Spotlight

Give it up for U/dolphnstanglr, who came up with an ingenious retractable platform solution for their garage. Do yourself a favor and check out the video. A still doesn’t do it justice.

🛒 Help us build your Black Friday list

Believe it or not, holiday season is almost here. And we want to help find the deals you actually care about. 

That’s it for today, golfers! Until next time!

Our Resources

Disclaimer: we may make a small commission when you purchase off of our links. Thank you for supporting Sim Weekly!

]]><![CDATA[Your next launch monitor might be on Kickstarter…]]>https://simweekly1.substack.com/p/your-next-launch-monitor-might-behttps://simweekly1.substack.com/p/your-next-launch-monitor-might-beThu, 24 Sep 2026 12:03:51 GMTHey, Golfers!

This week we’re covering robots on the range, 3D swing replays, and a banker who traded spreadsheets for sim bays. This week’s issue has a little bit of everything, plus deals worth grabbing.

Let’s tee it up! ⬇️

👀 The Three-Putt: 3 Golf Picks You Can't Miss

📰 Must-Read: Ever thought about going pro in sim golf? These top career earners on the Next Golf Tour might just convince you.

⛳ Must-Try: Another giveaway is up for grabs on the Golfzon Tour. Play just three rounds in individual qualifying and you’re in the running for one of these epic prizes.

👀 Must-See: WTGL tees off November 8, and they just dropped a behind-the-scenes look at media day on Instagram. Consider it your first look before the season starts. Will you be tuning in?

👀 Sim Watch (New in golf tech!)

Here’s what’s new in the world of sim golf / golf tech this week.

Foresight+ is here.

One membership, your whole game. Foresight+ is the brand’s new all-in-one ecosystem connecting practice, play, and competition, from the sim to the range. It covers drills and training, round planning on 40,000+ courses, shot analysis, session history, challenges, swing video, and more.

The big shift: Foresight+ replaces the old perpetual FSX licenses (FSX Live, Play, and Pro) with a tiered annual subscription. That subscription unlocks features across Foresight Premier on your sim, the Foresight mobile app, and Foresight One for commercial bays.

Meet Beni, the camera robot

Your foursome just became a fivesome. Mondo Robotics recently launched a Kickstarter for Beni, a WALL-E lookalike that follows you around and films as you go. It’s built for athletes and content creators, so if you’ve been meaning to start that YouTube channel or want footage of your rounds, Beni might be your new playing partner.

This launch monitor on Kickstarter is a game changer.

The NeoPace G10 Pro uses triple-cam tech to capture your swing, then turns the video into an interactive 3D replay you can spin a full 360 degrees. Scrub through the key moments of your swing and see exactly where to fine-tune.

Bonus: Rapsodo’s new launch monitor has a name
Meet the MLM2Xpro, launching October 15. Sign up here to get the details first.

🔥 Sim Steals and Golf Deals

Top Deals:

Golf Simulator Packages


Launch Monitor


Projectors & Accessories


Golf Gear

🔦 Sim Biz Spotlight

Consider this your sign. If you’ve been sketching out floor plans in your head or running the numbers on a few bays of your own, meet Pete Weldon. He left banking, opened a sim facility outside Dallas, and came in ahead of budget. Here’s how he did it, and the honest advice he’d give anyone ready to pull the trigger.

Pete Weldon spent years crunching data for banks. Now he spends his afternoons watching golfers flush drivers off a moving floor plate in Richardson, Texas. His facility, 2-1-Fore Golf, is eight months old, ahead of budget, and proof that a first-time owner with a plan can carve out space in a market that’s getting crowded fast.

The name is a play on the Dallas area code, 214, and the mission is just as local. Weldon wanted a small business built for the community, not a corporate entertainment box. That mindset traces back to why he left banking. He and his wife want to start a family, and he wanted control over his time. Golf was always the passion. Data and technology were the career. A simulator business merged all three.

The original plan looked nothing like what opened. Weldon first modeled the concept as a bar, until he ran the numbers on a saturated market where you have to charge $50 an hour to make food and liquor work. The bar died. The membership model lived. Today, a $30 monthly membership gets golfers hourly access to five Golfzon NX bays, plus a locker room, putting green, self-serve refreshments, eight TVs, and a soundproof coworking pod for members who take meetings between nines.

The membership tier itself came from watching real behavior. About 30% of unlimited members were paying more than $50 an hour, which made no sense for casual players. The $30 option gave them a way to belong without overpaying, and it has been great for business.

He built the plan on the Yardstick Golf startup model, which he found through Reddit’s r/golfsimulatorbusiness community. The demographic estimates, like annual hours per golfer within a ten-minute radius, were data he couldn’t find anywhere else, and the seasonality factor forced a more realistic budget.

Going unstaffed was the other big bet. Members book and unlock bays through a white-label app, with security cameras handling the off hours. Weldon staffs the facility from 2pm to 8pm daily, with a coach on weekdays for lessons and demos. He was nervous about leaving members alone with the place. Eight months in, his biggest surprise is how respectful people have been. No problems, no horror stories.

He didn’t get there without scar tissue. His first contractor blew the buildout, and MD Construction had to step in and recover lost time. The location was a calculated risk too. He chose highway access and a 15-minute reach of roughly 1.5 million people over a fancier neighborhood. It paid off. Membership goals have been hit without much trouble.

The DFW market has exploded since he signed his lease. Two competitors opened nearby, with two more on the way. Weldon stays ahead by knowing his members. The mix right now is 75% casual golfers, 20% serious players, and 5% corporate. Word of mouth drives growth, backed by Facebook and Google ads, and Reddit, of all places, keeps producing inquiries.

His advice for anyone eyeing the same move is blunt. Don’t open a facility because you think it means you won’t have to work. Cleaning bays, running demos, and managing the day to day is a job. Hire a good coach early, because good ones are hard to find. First-timers should seriously consider a franchise, since inheriting proven systems can be worth the fee.

As for what’s next, Weldon isn’t chasing a bigger footprint. In about a year, he plans to expand by buying already-built simulator locations instead of building from scratch.

Make sure to check out 2-1-Fore Golf if you’re in the Richardson, Texas area!

That’s it for today, golfers! Until next time!

Our Resources

Disclaimer: we may make a small commission when you purchase off of our links. Thank you for supporting Sim Weekly!

]]><![CDATA[This launch monitor deserves more hype...]]>https://simweekly1.substack.com/p/this-launch-monitor-deserves-morehttps://simweekly1.substack.com/p/this-launch-monitor-deserves-moreThu, 17 Sep 2026 12:03:13 GMTHey, Golfers!

This week: a Topgolf qualifier with a prize we’re still thinking about, a launch monitor that’s finally getting the attention it deserves, and a detour into something we’ve never covered: golf art worth putting on your wall. Let’s get into it.

Let’s tee it up! ⬇️

👀 The Three-Putt: 3 Golf Picks You Can't Miss

📰 Must-Read: Ever wonder how dehydration, coffee, or heavy lifting actually affects your golf game? These 10 studies break down what every golfer should know.

⛳ Must-Try: Calling all Canadian golfing friends! Pinpoint Golf Sims is giving away a Vanish Lite 9 Enclosure and a SkyTrak ST Max launch monitor. Check it out here.

👀 Must-See: A golf tournament with a cash prize? Cool. A golf tournament where the winner gets to pick any Taco Bell menu item for life? Now that’s awesome. Check out this creative Topgolf qualifier.

👀 Sim Watch (New in golf tech!)

Here’s what’s new in the world of sim golf / golf tech this week.

Swing Sensei

The golf app world is crowded with gimmicks. Swing Sensei isn’t one of them.

In just a few months, it’s pulled in 35,000 golfers. Why? The pitch is refreshingly simple: record your swing, get scored out of 10, and instead of a wall of confusing data, you get exactly one priority to fix and one drill to fix it.

No overwhelm. No guessing what to work on next. Just a clear, repeatable loop that actually builds a feedback habit instead of burying you in metrics you’ll never use.

If you’ve bounced off golf apps before because they tried to do too much, this is worth the download.

GOLFJOY Spica 3 Launch Monitor

GolfJoy Spica 3

GolfJoy is quietly becoming a sim brand to watch.

The Spica 3 has technically been around since 2025, but it just got a real cosign from MyGolfSpy, who recently called it out as a breakout in the space. GolfJoy launched its U.S. site in 2024, making it one of the newest brands trying to break into a market dominated by a handful of big names.

What makes it worth a serious look: it’s portable, plays nice with GSPro, E6, and Creative Golf, and gives sim golfers a more budget-friendly on-ramp into serious sim golf without locking you into one ecosystem. For anyone building out a home setup without wanting to drop flagship-launch-monitor money, this is squarely in the sweet spot.

Bonus!

  • After being sold out for the first 6 months following its release, The ShotScope LM1 is finally back on shelves. Pick it up here.

  • Keep an eye on Rapsodo! They’re teasing a new launch monitor dropping next month.

🔥 Sim Steals and Golf Deals

Top Deals:

Golf Simulator Packages


Launch Monitor


Other Golf Tech


Golf Gear

⛳ Golf Art You Need on Your Wall

We usually geek out about sim tech and building your dream setup on a budget. Today, we’re switching gears to talk decor.

Here are 3 golf art brands worth checking out:

Par x Design
Golf-inspired decor that feels more like a band poster than a pro shop print — vintage photos, iconic shots, cool typography. Bonus: 30% off right now for their anniversary sale.

Re-Tees
This Tampa-based artist has rescued 6,121 pounds of tees from landfills and turned them into custom art. Send him your course’s used tees and request a one-of-a-kind piece.

The Golf Project
You’ve seen golf course map prints. But have you seen a 3D, multi-layered wood map? Request your home course, or immortalize the hole where you got your first hole-in-one.

🔦 Sim Spotlight

This build isn’t done, but we’re already obsessed. It’s basically the conversation pit version of a golf sim—and we will be following along to see how it turns out. Good work, u/no-effective-8795!

r/Golfsimulator - Basement sim phase1 complete: basement digout
The WIP
r/Golfsimulator - Basement sim phase1 complete: basement digout
The End Goal

That’s it for today, golfers! Until next time!

Our Resources

Disclaimer: we may make a small commission when you purchase off of our links. Thank you for supporting Sim Weekly!

]]><![CDATA[3 Golfzon Giveaways You Need to Enter 👀]]>https://simweekly1.substack.com/p/3-golfzon-giveaways-you-need-to-enterhttps://simweekly1.substack.com/p/3-golfzon-giveaways-you-need-to-enterThu, 10 Sep 2026 12:04:39 GMTHey, Golfers!

It’s a big month for giveaways, and a bigger month for sim tech. Here’s everything worth your attention this week.

Let’s tee it up! ⬇️

👀 The Three-Putt: 3 Golf Picks You Can't Miss

📰 Must-Read: Rangefinders are ranging from expensive subscription models to $600 price tags these days. If you’re a cost-conscious golfer, here are the best budget rangefinders worth a look.

⛳ Must-Try: New month, new Awesome Golf challenge. This time, they’re daring you to beat a -7 at Banff Springs. Think you’ve got it in you? Join in.

👀 Must-See: We know, we say this every week, but this one might genuinely be the nicest golf sim space we’ve ever seen.

👀 Sim Watch (New in golf tech!)

Here’s what’s new in the world of sim golf / golf tech this week.

Woosh Putting

Putting analysis, straight from your phone. Prop it behind the ball, take your stroke, and Woosh measures what actually matters on the greens. Early access is open now.

Trackman Performance Center

Now live on Trackman Range: strokes-gained scoring for your practice sessions. Pick a target line, set your course length and hole layout, choose a comparison, and swing — then see how your tee shot placement actually scores. It’s the latest sign of the “feedback” trend showing up across launch monitors.

New BenQ Golf Projectors

BenQ just teased two new golf projectors built around one idea: less fiddling, sharper picture. An AI-driven engine handles upscaling, contrast, and noise reduction automatically, while upgraded auto-focus and auto screen-fit mean less realignment every time you move it. Plus: picture-in-picture and a “Scene Memory” preset for switching from practice to movie night. No pricing or release date yet, but worth watching if you’re in the market.

🔥 Sim Steals and Golf Deals

Top Deals:

Golf Simulator Packages


Launch Monitor


Projectors & Accessories


Other Golf Tech


Golf Gear

⛳ 3 Ways to Win Big with Golfzon

Golfzon is going all-in on giveaways this month.

First up: the September Monthly Challenge. Complete one 18-hole round at Tobacco Road Golf Club and you’re in the running for a twosome at the course IRL. The challenge runs all month, so there’s no rush.

Next, a trip to Troon North for two — just follow Golfzon and Troon North, then tag two friends. That’s the whole entry. Deadline’s Sept 18.

And if you’re already playing the Golfzon Tour, you don’t even need a win to score prizes — they’re rewarding UGC from the tour, too. See the prizes here.

🔦 Sim Spotlight

u/ecstatic_angle_1288 is out here living dangerously with a retractable setup that puts a window directly in the line of fire. Thoughts?

r/Golfsimulator - Basement Sim

That’s it for today, golfers! Check out one (or all) of Golfzon’s giveaways!

Our Resources

Disclaimer: we may make a small commission when you purchase off of our links. Thank you for supporting Sim Weekly!

]]><![CDATA[Can you build a golf sim for $5K? ]]>https://simweekly1.substack.com/p/can-you-build-a-golf-sim-for-5khttps://simweekly1.substack.com/p/can-you-build-a-golf-sim-for-5kThu, 03 Sep 2026 12:05:10 GMTHey, Golfers!

This week, we’ve got a Maine golfer who built a tour-quality sim in his garage for $5K, some seriously ambitious VR putting tech, and a new app for tracking every course you’ve ever played.

Let’s tee it up! ⬇️

👀 The Three-Putt: 3 Golf Picks You Can't Miss

📰 Must-Read: All of WTGL is here. See the full team lineup for the upcoming season.

⛳ Must-Try: Ever thought an MLB or NFL field would make for an excellent driving range? Upper Deck Golf lets you play the most iconic sports stadiums around the country. Read more here.

👀 Must-See: If you thought building a golf sim on a balcony was impossible, think again. See this golfer’s sim transformation.

👀 Sim Watch (New in golf tech!)

Here’s what’s new in the world of sim golf / golf tech this week.

Is this the most realistic sim gameplay?

PurePlay is launching this fall, with their sights set on the most advanced, realistic sim experience out there. They’re giving their Instagram followers a behind-the-scenes look at the courses they’re building, and from the picture alone, they’re nailing it. Their courses are designed with real-time environmental physics that simulate surface, terrain, weather, and lie interaction for a result that’s photo-realistic and completely immersive.

Like what you see? Enter our giveaway with PurePlay for a chance to design your very own PurePlay course. Terms and conditions apply.

Is this the best sim putting practice?

Speaking of immersive golf… Golf+ Putting is coming soon and currently in beta. It’s a mixed-reality experience: strap on a headset to blend a full putting green into any room, then use an actual putter and ball to simulate the real thing. Pick any green and dial in the distance, break, speed, and slope.

Is this the Goodreads of golf?

We’ll call this one “new-ish.” Convinced I’d stumbled on a great business idea, I googled whether the Goodreads of golf already existed. As it turns out, it does: coursevaults.com.

Launched a year ago, the app lets you build a “passport” of courses you’ve played and rate them, while compiling public reviews so you can scope out real opinions before booking your next tee time.

🔥 Sim Steals and Golf Deals

Top Deals:

Golf Simulator Packages


Launch Monitor


Projectors & Accessories


Other Golf Tech


Golf Gear

🔦 Sim Spotlight

Can you build a golf sim for $5K? This Reddit user says you absolutely can. u/jrm92 lives in Maine, where brutal winters make simulator access a necessity for keeping his game sharp. And with commercial facilities booked solid in his area, he got creative. We caught up with him to hear the story behind the build.

r/Golfsimulator - It ain’t much, but it’s honest work

1. What inspired you to install a golf simulator, and why did you choose your specific location?

I wanted to improve my game, as well as being able to play year round. Living in Maine, the majority of the year is either cold or wet, allowing for only 5+ months of good golf weather. My wife & I were also in the planning stages of building our forever home, and I wanted to include a simulator and make sure the ceiling measurements were sufficient in the garage, where we agreed to place the sim.

2. Walk us through your decision-making process—what factors influenced your choices for the enclosure, launch monitor, software, and other components?

Components & Software: I had a $5K budget, and ended up going with the Skytrak+ Launch Monitor (w/ Foresight course subscription), an Optoma 1080p/4k short throw projector, and an iPad Pro w/ M Chip.

I did a handful of research online, including YouTube, and watched a few hours worth of material between buying an out of the box simulator or doing a DYI. I choose the DIY route to cut costs and pick and be selective about what was included in the sim.

Huge credit to Builds By Maz on YouTube, his DIY video on how to build the enclosure was a huge resource of information and cost savings.

As for the launch monitor, the ST+ provides a ton of preloaded courses via both the Foresight and Trackman packages (yearly subscription), and also provides an additional course to download each month. The Doppler radar technology included in this device was also considered when comparing it to other models, as well as my preference on monitor placement next to the ball vs. other models that are placed behind the golfer. I also ended up cutting costs by utilizing a refurbished iPad Pro to run the software vs. buying or building a PC, and the ST+ is iOS compatible.

3. What was the most difficult part of setting up your sim, and how did you solve it?

The DIY enclosure was the most “difficult”. It took me a handful of hours across two weekends to prep the material, cut to size, paint, and assemble the metal cage. Then the black duck fabric and impact screen needed to be fixed to the enclosure, so taking numerous measurements and applying grommets to fasten it all together was time consuming.

4.What’s your favorite part of your setup, and why?

The whole simulator itself. There’s a ton of commercial golf simulator locations popping up around the area where I live, but they are always booked and tend to be just as expensive as a round of golf. By building my own, not only do I get to enjoy it whenever I want, but my friends in the area come over a lot to enjoy it as well. This past winter was the first winter I had the sim set up, and it was used quite frequently by myself and friends.

That’s it for today, golfers! Don’t forget to enter the giveaway!

Our Resources

Disclaimer: we may make a small commission when you purchase off of our links. Thank you for supporting Sim Weekly!

]]><![CDATA[🔥 Giveaway: Win Your Dream Sim Course!]]>https://simweekly1.substack.com/p/giveaway-win-your-dream-sim-coursehttps://simweekly1.substack.com/p/giveaway-win-your-dream-sim-courseThu, 27 Aug 2026 12:04:13 GMTHey, Golfers!

This one’s PACKED! We’ve got a giveaway for a free sim course build, the PGA’s 2027 schedule to start planning around, and the latest tech worth your attention.

Let’s tee it up! ⬇️

👀 The Three-Putt: 3 Golf Picks You Can't Miss

📰 Must-Read: Drop everything: The PGA Tour just released their 2027 schedule. Time to strategically plan those “sick” days…

⛳ Must-Try: If a golf trip to Florida is on the itinerary, book this tricked out golf van to make your rounds.

👀 Must-See: In light of recent golf news, check out these women-owned brands getting more girls in the game.

‼️ Get Your Bucket List Course Built (for FREE!)

Have a dream course you wish you could play on your sim? Now’s your shot.

We’ve teamed up with Pureplay, the new sim golf platform launching this fall, to give one Sim Weekly reader the chance to have their bucket-list course built for free.

Pureplay is creating ultra-realistic, hand-built recreations of real golf courses using LiDAR drone mapping. The platform brings practice, course play, and competition into one system, works across launch monitors, and will launch with 50+ courses from some of the best designers in sim golf.

And your dream course could be one of the first 50.

Here’s how it works: Tell us which course you want to see on Pureplay. One winner’s pick will be among the first courses to get the Pureplay treatment: fully mapped, fully playable, and completely free.

Enter via the form on their site and name your course by September 30, 2026 at 11:59 PM PT.

ENTER TO WIN YOUR COURSE

Want the full Pureplay story? Check them out here →

Please review the landing page for full terms and conditions.

🔥 Sim Steals and Golf Deals

Top Deals:

Golf Simulator Packages


Launch Monitor


Projectors & Accessories

Other Golf Tech

Golf Gear

👀 Sim Watch

Here’s what’s new in the world of sim golf this week.

PuttView App

The PuttView App is finally here, and never fear: there are no goggles or gimmicks here. With the PuttView App, all you need to do is point your iPhone Pro at any putting green, and PuttView’s LiDAR scanner reads the surface in seconds, overlaying your ideal line, slope arrows, contour lines, and aiming point right on the grass.

Basic features are free. Upgrade to Pro ($9.99/mo or $79.99/yr) for a full green map, pro-level visuals, deeper stats, and total customization.

Ready to sink more putts? Download the app here.

The SportScreen 3D Builder

The SportScreen has a few of the best retractable enclosures on the market. If you’ve been eyeing it, but have been unsure if it’ll fit in your space, you’re in luck. They just launched their new 3D builder.

The tool goes deeper than just room width/height/depth—it also factors in turf/flooring thickness, projection ratio priorities, vaulted or sloped ceilings, and mounting depth. In seconds, their builder will output their recommended options based on your dimensions, plus any customizations you’ll need to make it work.

And, you get a cool 3D model of the space so you can visualize how it will all come together.

That’s it for today, golfers! Don’t forget to enter the giveaway!

Our Resources

Disclaimer: we may make a small commission when you purchase off of our links. Thank you for supporting Sim Weekly!

]]><![CDATA[⛳ Is a retractable enclosure actually worth it?]]>https://simweekly1.substack.com/p/is-a-retractable-enclosure-actuallyhttps://simweekly1.substack.com/p/is-a-retractable-enclosure-actuallyThu, 20 Aug 2026 12:03:50 GMTHey, Golfers!

We caught up with a sim owner who went from DIY curtains-and-PVC to a a premium, retractable enclosure — and got his take on the SkyTrak, Rapsodo MLM2PRO, and Swing Caddie SC300 after living with all three. Plus: two new sim apps to try out and sim deals worth snagging!

Let’s tee it up! ⬇️

👀 The Three-Putt: 3 Golf Picks You Can't Miss

📰 Must-Read: The 2026 MyGolfSpy golf ball test results are here. Check out the dashboard to find which balls earned top marks.

⛳ Must-Try: If you love a good Ikea hack, this one’s for you. This golfer turned a $75 Ikea shelf into a warehouse-worthy golf club rack.

👀 Must-See: Ace Indoor Golf and the Golf Room Everywhere are offering a free Live masterclass with Golf Digest instructor Kyle Morris TODAY at 1:30 PM ET! Learn how to shoot lower and make the most of your simulator practice.

🔦 Simulator Spotlight

YouTuber Mistah Short Hitter majorly just upgraded their setup. From DIY curtains to a retractable Vanish Lite enclosure, he walked us through what changed, what he'd do differently, and how the SkyTrak, Rapsodo MLM2PRO, and Swing Caddie SC300 stack up in real use

.

You’ve built and upgraded your garage setup over time… where did you start? What was the biggest lesson from that early setup that shaped how you built everything after?

I used a DIY setup with PVC pipe, black curtains, bungee cords, and black netting to stop high wedge shots. One thing I learned is any small opening or defect in the enclosure a golf ball will eventually find it!

You recently upgraded your enclosure — why did you feel the need to upgrade? How did you land on a retractable setup?

My enclosure had some limitations. It was very difficult to get behind the enclosure to the area that I used for storage. It also always seemed to have golf balls going behind the enclosure. I worked with The SportScreen to get set up with the new Vanish Lite. This professional enclosure helped solve the space limitations and ball issues I was having, and is much more visually appealing that what I had before.

Now that you’ve had The SportScreen up for a month, what are your thoughts?

I couldn’t be happier with my Sportscreen enclosure. The fact that it is retractable has really come in handy. I originally thought that I would keep it down most of the time but I couldn’t have been more wrong. It looks good and has a wider aspect ratio, which makes for a better experience when using my simulator. It’s a very well made enclosure that keeps all the balls within the enclosure. I couldn’t be happier with it.

The SportScreen Vanish Lite (with screen retracted)

You also recently did a video on upgrading your mat — what were you hitting off before? What do you like about your new mat?

The old mat I purchased 6 years ago from Amazon and it was time for an upgrade. The new Ponsonbay hitting mat is much larger, and has a ball tray and a tee. After picking up broken tees all over my garage I think the rubber tee makes things easier.

You’ve tested the SkyTrak, Rapsodo MLM2PRO, and Swing Caddie SC300 on your channel — how do they compare, and who’s each one really for?

There are so many things to go over here! I’ll just say this—The Skytrak and Rapsodo numbers are incredibly accurate. It’s only once in a while that I’ll get a random misread from the Swing Caddie SC300 and random no reads from the SkyTrak.

In terms of portability, Skytrak is a better indoor unit, while both Rapsodo and Swing Caddie are outdoor portable units. The Swing Caddie SC300 doesn’t require an app, so it works well for someone who just wants to turn it on and get to practicing. The Rapsodo does need an app, but it provides a lot more features.

These are just some of the things to consider when choosing between these!

Looking at the setup as a whole now, is there anything you’d still change or add? What’s next on the upgrade list?

Besides an upgraded launch monitor I’ll probably be upgrading flooring and lighting in my simulator room.

Check out Mistah Short Hitter’s full space in his recent YouTube video!

🔥 Sim Steals and Golf Deals

Top Deals:

Golf Simulator Packages


Launch Monitor


Projectors & Accessories

Golf Gear

📱 2 Sim Apps to pay Attention to

Two new apps are making your sim sessions smarter smarter. If you’ve got a Square or Full Swing Launch monitor, this one’s for you.

The Square Vision (currently in beta)

A new app connects directly to both Square launch monitors via USB-C, and unlocks a level of feedback you’ve been missing: real-time video playback, ball location tracking, and divot simulation.

  • This app allows you to pull up a window in the corner of your projected image showing ball placement, swing video, and even how fat your divot is. Or, it works just as well on a secondary monitor if you’d rather keep your screen focused on the course

  • Garage Golfers is actively looking for beta testers, so if you’re running Square, this is your chance to get in early!

Full Swing App

Full Swing just rolled out a major app upgrade, and it’s a genuine game-changer for anyone trying to actually track progress instead of just hit more balls.

  • This update automatically saves practice sessions and course play stats, so there’s no more relying on memory or a random notes app

  • You get full scorecards per round: course info, holes, tees, format played, and per-hole scoring

  • Plus, you can set up your exact club specs for a driving range experience that’s actually personalized to your bag

That’s it for today, golfers! Don’t forget: the Carl’s Place 20K sim giveaway is still running! Enter while you can.

Our Resources

Disclaimer: we may make a small commission when you purchase off of our links. Thank you for supporting Sim Weekly!

]]><![CDATA[⛳ Thinking bigger than your home sim?]]>https://simweekly1.substack.com/p/thinking-bigger-than-your-home-simhttps://simweekly1.substack.com/p/thinking-bigger-than-your-home-simThu, 13 Aug 2026 12:08:32 GMTHey, Golfers!

This issue leans commercial. We’re covering an upcoming golf sim webinar, plus three indoor golf concepts that are rewriting what a “golf business” can look like. If your home sim setup has ever had you thinking “...could I turn this into something?” this is your sign to keep reading.

Let’s tee it up! ⬇️

👀 The Three-Putt: 3 Golf Picks You Can't Miss

📰 Must-Read: No surprises here—lack of sleep makes you a sucky golfer. Check out Whoop’s quick pro golfer study here.

⛳ Must-Try: Don’t spend over $100 on golf bag wall storage. Follow this creator’s steps and make your own for $25!

👀 Must-See: This sim / gym garage setup might just be our dream. Check it out.

⛳ Thinking of starting a golf simulator facility?

AllBooked is hosting a free webinar with two operators who built completely different profitable golf simulator businesses. Brian Stenson (TeeBox Golf, Downers Grove IL) went big from day one: six bays, built to run 24/7 unstaffed. Nick Notto (Pin High PGH, Moon PA) went the other way: two sims, low overhead, growing one bay at a time.

On Tuesday, August 18 (4pm ET), they’ll go over…

✅ Going fully automated and unstaffed: what the tech stack actually looks like
✅ Franchise vs. independent: what paid off, what didn't
✅ Memberships now or later: three tiers vs. holding off to gather data
✅ Six bays out of the gate vs. adding one at a time

Register here — if you can’t make it live, they’ll send the replay!

🔥 Sim Steals and Golf Deals

Top Deals:

Golf Simulator Packages


Launch Monitor


Projectors & Accessories

Golf Gear

⛳ 3 Golf Business Trends Worth Watching

The indoor golf category is maturing fast — and these three concepts show where it’s headed. From full 18-hole simulated rounds to wellness-meets-golf clubs, here’s what’s opening (and what it might mean for the space you’re building or watching).

City Golf Golfers on Putting Green

1. The Full 18, Indoors

CityGolf (Nashville)

Most simulator setups stop at the tee shot. CityGolf doesn’t. Players hit full shots into GOLFZON’s simulators, then walk over to one of 18 physical green complexes to finish the hole.

It’s the closest thing to an actual round you can get without stepping outside:

  • Play in any weather, any time of day

  • A genuine 18-hole experience, start to finish

  • Real short-game reps, not just simulator stats

  • Approachable for every skill level

The proof of concept: CityGolf’s Tianjin, China location logged nearly 10,000 rounds in 2025, a strong signal that golfers want this hybrid format, not just another bay to hit balls into.

2. Golf Meets Wellness

Stableford Club (West LA)

Stableford’s bet: in a market like LA, where there’s no room for another golf course but no shortage of golfers, the opportunity is in the sim biz.

Their 13,000-square-foot space pairs Trackman bays and a PuttView green with an infrared sauna, cold plunge, private wellness suites, and a full espresso/smoothie/cocktail lineup. It’s built as much for lifestyle as it is for simulated links.

3. Golf as a Night Out

Flight Club Golf (Amsterdam)

Flight Club’s read on their market: golf doesn’t need to be a practice session. It can be the reason for the evening.

High-end Trackman bays sit alongside indoor/outdoor dining, with coaching available if you want it, but you can just as easily show up for drinks and dinner and never swing a club. Their own words say it best: “golf should be accessible, social, and fun all year round.”

It’s a hospitality business first, golf second.

Gives indoor golf a whole new meaning…

That’s it for today, golfers! Don’t forget to sign up for the webinar!

Our Resources

Disclaimer: we may make a small commission when you purchase off of our links. Thank you for supporting Sim Weekly!

]]><![CDATA[🔥 $20K Sim Setup Giveaway! ]]>https://simweekly1.substack.com/p/20k-sim-setup-giveawayhttps://simweekly1.substack.com/p/20k-sim-setup-giveawayThu, 06 Aug 2026 12:04:41 GMTHey, Golfers!

National Golf Month is off to a strong start. Carl’s Place just dropped a $20K simulator giveaway to celebrate 20 years in business. Uneekor owners also just got their own global tournament, and we’ve got awesome deals per usual.

Let’s tee it up! ⬇️

👀 The Three-Putt: 3 Golf Picks You Can't Miss

📰 Must-Read: If your TBR isn’t stacked with golf books, are you even a golfer? Here are 6 golf books every golfer should read at least once.

⛳ Must-Try: Chasing that first round in the 80s? This creator’s got 10 tips to help you finally break 90.

👀 Must-See: We found the world’s smallest golf simulator, courtesy of a company out of Vietnam. Would you try it??

🔥 $20K Sim Setup Giveaway!

Carl’s Place is turning 20, and to celebrate, they’re giving away a custom home golf simulator worth up to $20,000.

Here’s how it works:

  1. Design your dream setup using Carl’s new 3D Build tool. Plug in your room dimensions and build a sim that actually fits your space (and your ambitions).

  2. Hit “Share” once you’re done, and grab your custom build link.

  3. Fill out the entry form, tell them why it should be yours, and drop in your build link.

That’s it. The giveaway runs all of August, so there’s no excuse not to enter.

Want a walkthrough before you dive in? We put together a full video guide to the new design tool. It covers room dimensions, screen system, launch monitor, hitting area, and projector setup from start to finish.

Watch the walkthrough

And if $20K of free simulator wasn’t enough to convince you...

We can vouch for Carl’s Place firsthand. They helped us take our setup from a basic net-and-mat situation to a fully immersive sim garage. From initial design plans to a premium, easy-to-assemble enclosure and screen kit, Carl’s Place guided us every step of the way.

See our full build

Torn between launch monitors or hitting mats for your dream setup?

We’ve pulled data from thousands of sim golfers to help you land on the right gear before you build:

🔥 Sim Steals and Golf Deals

Top Deals:

Golf Simulator Packages


Launch Monitor


Projectors & Accessories


Golf Gear

⛳ Uneekor Owners Just Got Their Own Major

Uneekor is throwing its hat into the competitive sim golf ring with the launch of the Uneekor Invitational, a first-of-its-kind global tournament built in

partnership with GSPro and SGT running August 17 through September 4. It’s exclusive to Uneekor launch monitor owners and structured as a multi-phase competition, complete with qualifying rounds, division prizes, and a shot at a championship title.

Sponsored closest-to-the-pin contests from Vice Golf, YETI, Evnroll Putters, and Avoda Golf add extra ways to win beyond the leaderboard, and a “Top Social Shot” contest (tag #UneekorInvitational) gives players a chance to score bonus swag even if their scorecard doesn’t cooperate.

Players will need eligible Uneekor hardware, GSPro, and the Uneekor Pro Package to compete, and registration opens through GSPro in mid-August. It’s a notable move for Uneekor toward building the kind of organized, ongoing competitive ecosystem that’s helped drive engagement for other sim brands.

Learn more / Apply here!

I AM home…but I’m on the sim

That’s it for today, golfers! Don’t forget to enter the giveaway!

Our Resources

Disclaimer: we may make a small commission when you purchase off of our links. Thank you for supporting Sim Weekly!

]]><![CDATA[Did at home putting practice just level up??]]>https://simweekly1.substack.com/p/did-at-home-putting-practice-justhttps://simweekly1.substack.com/p/did-at-home-putting-practice-justThu, 30 Jul 2026 12:11:59 GMTHey, Golfers!

Putting is having a moment. Between a new sensor promising to fix sim putting’s biggest blind spot, a grip-mounted gadget that reads your stroke like a lab report, and a leisure trend turning putting greens into full-blown hangouts, the short game is finally getting the tech budget it deserves.

Let’s tee it up! ⬇️

👀 The Three-Putt: 3 Golf Picks You Can't Miss

📰 Must-Read: It’s not mini golf, it’s not Top Golf, it’s… premium putting? Read more about the rise of premium putting, a new category of design-led putting attractions making waves at resorts and golf clubs.

⛳ Must-Try: Need some putting reps? Cameron McCormick Golf posted 3 elite putting games worth stealing for your short game practice.

👀 Must-See: Now this is the golf tech we want to see more of. Check out the Plus Putt Path, a putting sensor that lives right on your grip — face angle, path, tempo, and impact location, all in real time.

⛳ A New Way to Practice Putting

Let’s be honest: putting on most sims feels like Wii golf. Every other part of the tech stack has leapt forward, but putting often seems likethe neglected stepchild in the golf world. The companies that have tackled it seriously, like PuttView, come with a price tag that puts them out of reach for most home setups.

So when LagKing showed up in my feed, it caught my attention.

The pitch: set up their sensor “gate” onto any putting mat you already own, and it’ll measure every stroke and translate it into how far that putt would’ve actually rolled on a real green. Pair it with the app and you get full stats, plus solo ladder drills, head-to-head matches against friends, global leaderboards, and one official daily challenge putt.

Price is $199, which includes 12 months of the app subscription. First drop is capped at 50 units.

Is this a hole-in-one or three-putt? We’re cautiously optimistic… distance control has been the biggest blind spot in sim putting, and gamifying it (leaderboards, daily challenges) is exactly what gets people to actually practice.

Check it out here.

🔥 Sim Steals and Golf Deals

Golf Simulator Packages


Launch Monitor


Projectors & Accessories


Golf Gear

🔦 Sim Spotlight

r/Golfsimulator - The 19th at Ghia's is officially open

When this setup popped up on our Reddit feed from u/iamuncletoby, we wanted to move right in. This Redditor turned a barn into a sleek, custom, birdie-worthy build — and we had to know how he pulled it off.

1. What inspired you to install a golf simulator, and why did you choose your specific location?

As I’ve been getting back into golf the past couple of years, I’m finding joy in the dedication to improving my skill. I also live in the Midwest where we do not get to play outdoors year round, so a golf simulator just made sense. I had space in the barn, so I decided to make the leap and start getting set up.

2. Walk us through your decision-making process—what factors influenced your choices for the enclosure, launch monitor, software, and other components?

My process started out with a very different goal than I ended with. Originally, I just wanted a cheap space with a decent launch monitor I could use to practice. I knew I wanted to use GSPro but, at the time, I didn’t have a spare computer to dedicate to the sim. I found a solution that I could use to stream GSPro, but that meant I needed a LM that could work with a WiFi connection. I did a lot of research and landed on the Bushnell Launch Pro.

I didn’t care as much about the enclosure, hitting area, or putting turf, so I found a good ‘all-in-one’ package from an online retailer and (with a nice discount code) ordered it, and got going. But after using this for a while, I realized I wanted to build a different space that looked and felt professional.

I was also contemplating renovating my barn at the time, and realized this was an opportunity for me to build the simulator space of my dreams. I envisioned a sim with a built-in enclosure, good looking wall coverings, turf across the entire space, a large screen, and a true hang-out area for friends and family to enjoy. I then went to work researching each component and slowly piecing everything together. Throughout the whole process, I kept a cost conscious mindset and tried to get the best ‘bang for the buck’ as I could.

3. What was the most difficult part of setting up your sim, and how did you solve it?

Deciding how to handle the wall panels in the enclosure was my biggest struggle. I’ve tried to build this space balancing how much to spend on each area as well as overall look. I wanted it to look professional, but without a massive price tag. I ended up creating a cost matrix and landed on building the wall panels myself with plywood, cut up foam mattress toppers, and marine vinyl.

4. If money was limitless, what’s the first thing you’d upgrade?

The launch monitor. I really like the BLP for the accurate data that I can get from it but at this point I’d prefer an overhead unit and particularly one that can show impact replay.

5. What’s your favorite part of your setup, and why?

All of it. This sim turned out to be exactly what I had envisioned in my head.

So you had a bad day…

That’s it for today, golfers! Go sink some putts!

Our Resources

Disclaimer: we may make a small commission when you purchase off of our links. Thank you for supporting Sim Weekly!

]]><![CDATA[5 Golf Sim Hot Takes 🔥]]>https://simweekly1.substack.com/p/5-golf-sim-hot-takeshttps://simweekly1.substack.com/p/5-golf-sim-hot-takesThu, 23 Jul 2026 12:04:05 GMTHey, Golfers!

This week’s got a little bit of everything: r/golfsimulator’s spiciest hot takes (some of which we don’t even agree with), deals worth putting on your radar, and a guest house that somehow fits a sim and a kitchen. Let’s get into it.

Let’s tee it up! ⬇️

👀 The Three-Putt: 3 Golf Picks You Can't Miss

📰 Must-Read: Your bad golf shot might not be your fault — it might be your ball. MyGolfSpy's 2026 ball test is coming soon.

⛳ Must-Try: Ryan Fox made a birdie putt to win his first career major. You can buy his putter for less with code GGEAR10 at Next Round.

👀 Must-See:Thinking about a career switch into golf? Check out Cool Golf Jobs — they're posting the best opportunities every week.

🔥 We Asked r/golfsimulator for Their Hottest Takes. They Delivered.

We asked the community to drop their overrated products and purchase regrets. Some takes were nearly universal. Others split the forum right down the middle. Here are the ones that generated the most noise.

1. Golf simulators themselves are overrated

u/mathballthunder compared owning a sim to owning a boat: “Really incredible and so much fun. But I think a good friend owning one is better than owning one yourself.”

The forum pushed back hard (and honestly, so do we). Most commenters wanted to practice on their own schedule, not someone else’s, and pointed out that sim maintenance costs don’t come close to boat maintenance.

2. Don’t go full setup right away

Several variations of this take showed up. u/justincle made the case for starting with “a hitting net, extra TV, and an iPad,” arguing that jumping straight to impact screen, projector, and gaming PC isn’t necessary to have fun or improve.

3. Your handicap should dictate launch monitor accuracy

u/ibarber111 argued that if your handicap is “lower than 5-7, you shouldn’t be overly worried about launch monitor accuracy” — better to save money and go with a cheaper model.

Not everyone agreed. Several commenters pushed back, arguing low-handicap players need more accuracy to dial in swing changes, not less.

Jury’s still out on this one. Where do you land?

4. Floor projection is extra

u/birdieboxgolf’s take was blunt: skip the floor projection, “just look at the screen.” No need to get fancy for fancy’s sake.

5. Resolution is an overrated spec

u/agreeable_pop5275, a former industry pro, said light control matters far more than resolution. Agonizing over 4K vs. 1080p doesn’t mean much if your setup is in a garage with white walls and a window letting in ambient light.

As they put it: “An $800 projector in a blacked-out room beats a $3,000 one fighting ambient light, every time.”

Got hot takes that weren’t listed here? Drop ‘em in the comments.

🔥 Sim Steals and Golf Deals

Top Deals:

Golf Simulator Packages


Launch Monitor


Projectors & Accessories


Golf Gear

⛳ Practice, Made Easy

Speaking of overcomplicating things… sometimes the best upgrade to your game isn’t hardware at all.

Golfable turns practice into something you actually look forward to: short, scored sessions you can knock out in a few minutes, with your progress tracked over time. You’re not grinding alone, either. You’re chasing the same daily challenge as golfers all over the world.

If you’re looking for new ways to lower your handicap, check out Golfable. Plus, it’s completely free for the first 100 members! Claim your spot early!

🔦 Sim Spotlight

u/thegolfsimguy just built a sim in a guest house, right next to the kitchen. Snacks and swings, same room. Honestly? They might be cooking here…

r/Golfsimulator - I’ve installed in a 80 year old church, now a 1875 San Francisco mansion….

LAGC designed some golf emojis… what would you add?

That’s it for today, golfers! Don’t forget to share your sim hot takes with us!

Our Resources

Disclaimer: we may make a small commission when you purchase off of our links. Thank you for supporting Sim Weekly!

]]><![CDATA[Major week is here 🏆]]>https://simweekly1.substack.com/p/major-week-is-herehttps://simweekly1.substack.com/p/major-week-is-hereThu, 16 Jul 2026 12:04:30 GMTHey, Golfers!

Major week is here. Royal Birkdale, pro gear breakdowns, a sim glow-up, and the first real handicap for off-course golf — all in this week’s issue.

Let’s tee it up! ⬇️

👀 The Three-Putt: 3 Golf Picks You Can't Miss

📰 Must-Read: Titleist just made mini drivers less mini. Golf.com breaks down the new GTS 300 and why it might be the most forgiving mini driver yet.

⛳ Must-Try: Wyndham Clark was spotted at the range this week using a coat hanger as a training aid. Here’s why — and maybe steal the drill for your own range session.

👀 Must-See: If watching sim renovation before-and-afters is wrong, we don’t want to be right. Check out this one from Gimme Golf.

🏆 The Open Is Here

We’ve made it to the final major of the year. The Open Championship tees off today at Royal Birkdale. It’s golf’s oldest championship, back on the Southport coast for the first time since Jordan Spieth’s chaotic 2017 win.

This one’s different from Quail Hollow or Oakmont. Links golf means firm turf, low bouncing shots, and wind that can turn a 150-yard approach into a full driver. If you’ve only ever played target golf on your sim, this week is your excuse to actually dial in firm-and-fast conditions and see what your ball flight looks like when it’s not stopping on a dime.

Want to play it yourself? Here’s how to get Royal Birkdale loaded up on your setup, whether you’re on GSPro, Trackman, or Foresight FSX Play: How to play The Open on your sim

And if you want to see the course in action before you tee it up, here’s a full play-through of Royal Birkdale.

Gear up like the favorites

If you want to get even closer to playing like the pros, and you’re in the market for a new driver, we took the liberty of compiling the current driver models and 2026 season driving distance for the top 8 projected Open Championship winners, based on current PGA Tour odds.

Lucky for you, you can get some of these exact models for less through Next Round Golf. Use code GGEAR10 for 10% off:

🔥 Sim Steals and Golf Deals

Top Deals:

Launch Monitor

Golf Simulator Packages

Projectors & Accessories

Golf Gear

⛳ The Sim-Way To Get Your Handicap

Off-course golf has never had its own version of the handicap, until this week. Evenplay, an AI-powered gaming platform, just launched the Evenplay Index, a skill-rating system built specifically for golfers who play on simulators, launch monitors, and gamified ranges rather than rated courses.

Here’s how it works: instead of pulling from posted scores on rated courses, the Index analyzes the shots you actually hit. It uses your simulator or launch monitor data to generate a 1-100 skill rating, then converts that into a handicap tailored to whatever platform you’re playing on. It’s free, comes automatically when you create an account on any of Evenplay’s partner platforms, and the company says it can produce a reliable rating from roughly your first 10 shots.

The timing tracks: of the 48.1 million Americans who golf, roughly 38 million play some form of off-course golf, and about 19 million have never played an actual course at all. That’s a massive chunk of the golf population that’s had no standardized way to measure skill against each other, until now.

This could be the first real common language for “how good are you, actually” in sim golf. Full story on GOLF.com →

🔦 Sim Spotlight

U/western_gear2865 is looking for suggestions, but honestly, we think this setup is pretty great. Leave your thoughts in the comments!

r/Golfsimulator - Trackman setup - would love feedback. Possible additions?

Agree? Let us know in the comments.

That’s it for today, golfers! Happy Open Week!

Our Resources

Disclaimer: we may make a small commission when you purchase off of our links. Thank you for supporting Sim Weekly!

]]><![CDATA[⛳ Same budget, 3 different golf simulators]]>https://simweekly1.substack.com/p/same-budget-3-different-golf-simulatorshttps://simweekly1.substack.com/p/same-budget-3-different-golf-simulatorsThu, 09 Jul 2026 12:15:08 GMTHey, Golfers!

What would you build with $8,000 and a golf simulator budget? Turns out, the answer depends entirely on who you are. More on that below, plus a $300K prize pool and a virtual trip to France.

Let’s tee it up! ⬇️

👀 The Three-Putt: 3 Golf Picks You Can't Miss

📰 Must-Read: New driver vs. used driver — does the upgrade actually move the needle? IGR put it to the test with on-course play, range results, and launch monitor data to settle it.

⛳ Must-Try: Got what it takes for GOLFZON Tour Season 3? Practice rounds are open NOW — here’s how to compete for a $300,000 prize pool.

👀 Must-See: European vacation, zero jet lag. SkyTrak just dropped the iconic Champions Course at Evian Resort Golf Club. Tee it up from your garage.

⛳ $8K Three Ways

Building a Golf Simulator Around What Actually Matters to You

Every week, someone posts the same question on r/golfsimulator: “I have about xyz to spend, what should I build?”

The honest answer is: it depends what you actually care about. Two people with the identical budget can end up with wildly different rooms, because the “right” simulator isn’t necessarily the one with the best specs on paper. It’s the one that matches how you’re actually going to use it.

So instead of giving you one “best” $8K build, we’re giving you three. Same budget. Three different golfers. Three completely different sets of priorities.

Here’s who we’re targeting:

  • The Accuracy Chaser: wants tour-level data and doesn’t care what the room looks like.

  • The Space-Saver: has a garage, a bonus room, or a bedroom that needs to stay a garage, bonus room, or bedroom most of the time.

  • The Entertainment Seeker: wants a room the whole family actually wants to hang out in.

Setup 1: The Accuracy Chaser

For the golfer who wants every number to be real, and would rather spend on data than décor.

If you’re the type who wants to know your actual spin rate, not an estimate, this build puts almost all of its money into two things: a radar-based launch monitor with no subscription fees, and a projector good enough that the picture doesn’t embarrass the data.

Total: ~$7,046

Why these picks: The Mevo Gen2 has become the value pick in the radar category largely because it doesn’t have ongoing charges. That savings gets funneled straight into the BenQ AK700ST, which is BenQ’s dedicated golf projector: motorized zoom and focus, a built-in Golf Mode for color calibration, and Auto Screen Fit so you’re not eyeballing keystone correction every time you bump the tripod.

The Fiberbuilt Player Preferred earns its spot here too. It’s the firmest mat on the market, which means it won’t flatter you. Fat shots get punished the way they would on real turf, and that honesty is exactly what a data-obsessed golfer wants from their feedback loop.

Setup 2: The Space-Saver

For a garage, bonus room, or spare bedroom that needs to earn its keep as something other than a golf simulator most days of the week.

For a lot of golfers, constraints go beyond budget; they’ve got to be mindful about square footage. This build is built around gear that doesn’t fight your room, from a camera-based launch monitor that needs far less depth than radar, and a retractable enclosure that gives the room back when you’re done.

• Launch Monitor: Square Golf Omni ($1,599.99)

• Enclosure: SportScreen Vanish Lite ($2,299.99)

• Hitting Mat: SIGPRO Softy Lite ($739.99)

• Projector: BenQ TK710STi, 4K laser ($2,199.00)

• Computer: Mini PC (~$600)

• Software: GSPro ($250)

Total: ~$7,689

Why these picks: The Square Golf Omni is camera-based, not radar, which is the real unlock for tight rooms; it needs far less depth behind the ball to read shots accurately than a radar unit does. That single decision is what makes a small-footprint build possible in the first place.

The Vanish Lite does the rest of the work: it mounts to just two points on a wall or ceiling, runs off a single power outlet, and rolls up in seconds with a hand crank or remote, so the garage stays a garage and the bonus room stays a bonus room.

Setup 3: The Entertainment Seeker

For the golfer building a room the whole family actually wants to be in.

This build is built around two priorities: a launch monitor that’s genuinely fun for non-golfers, and an enclosure that earns its keep as a real entertainment room, not just a golf bay.

• Launch Monitor: Garmin R10 ($499.99)

• Enclosure: Carl’s Place Pro Golf Simulator Enclosure Kit ($3,409.95)

• Hitting Mat: SIGPRO Softy Lite ($739.99)

• Projector: BenQ TK710STi, 4K laser ($2,199.00)

• Computer: Mid-tier PC, RTX 4060-class GPU (~$800)

• Software: GSPro + multiplayer setup ($250)

• Misc: Sound, lighting, room finishing (~$400–600)

Total: ~$8,299

Why these picks: The Garmin R10 is the cheapest launch monitor on this entire list, and that’s deliberate. Its Home Tee Hero mode is Garmin’s dedicated arcade-style game mode, built specifically to be fun for the spouse, kid, or neighbor who’s never held a club. That matters more here than shaving decimal points off spin rate, and it frees up real budget for the room itself.

That’s where the Carl’s Place Pro Kit comes in. It’s a full permanent frame with a premium impact screen built for a clean, wrinkle-free projection surface.

We paired it with the BenQ TK710STi’s real 4K laser picture, since the projection quality matters for golf/movie/entertainment immersion.

The Bigger Picture

Same $8,000. Three completely different rooms. Before you start pricing out components, figure out which one of these three golfers you actually are. Know your priorities first, and then pick components accordingly.

Have a build of your own that split the budget differently? Drop it in the comments, and let us know which budget you want us to unpack next!

🔥 Sim Steals and Golf Deals

Top Deals:

Launch Monitor


Golf Simulator Packages


Projectors & Accessories


Golf Gear

That’s it for today, golfers! Happy building!

Our Resources

Disclaimer: we may make a small commission when you purchase off of our links. Thank you for supporting Sim Weekly!

]]><![CDATA[3 Apps Your Sim Setup Needs 👀]]>https://simweekly1.substack.com/p/3-apps-your-sim-setup-needshttps://simweekly1.substack.com/p/3-apps-your-sim-setup-needsThu, 02 Jul 2026 12:04:06 GMTHey, Golfers!

July 4th is upon us, and hopefully, that means a weekend of celebrating red, white, and blue on the greens.

This week, we’ve got big-time deals, sim apps our community is building, and a sim build feature for you.

Let’s tee it up! ⬇️

👀 The Three-Putt: 3 Golf Picks You Can't Miss

📰 Must-Read: If you needed an excuse to hit PGA Tour Superstore this holiday weekend, here it is. Every location now has a dedicated indoor simulator showroom.

⛳ Must-Try: Grinding the same shot on repeat isn’t always the move. Here’s how one creator recommends mixing up your practice.

👀 Must-See: Someone converted an indoor swimming pool into a golf sim. Yeah, really.

⛳ The Coolest Apps Our Community is Building

Vibe coding is having a moment — and r/golfsimulator members are putting it to actual use. Here are three projects worth knowing about. Drop your thoughts (or your own builds) in the comments.

The Looper — A free GSPro intelligence app (actually free, no paywall) that hooks directly into GSPro to cut through the noise of warmups and random swings. It tracks club-by-club trends, assigns confidence scores, and separates stock numbers from pure strikes. Next up: an integrated sim caddie that gives you shot-by-shot guidance based on your real tendencies.

SimLight — Shot-reactive lighting for your sim setup. Flush it and the room goes green. Miss it and the lights bend with the shape of the shot. The putting implementation is especially clever: LEDs map to horizontal launch angle, sliding in the direction of the miss at a length proportional to how much you pulled or pushed it.

PAR-TEE Golf Simulator — A solo-built iOS game running on the Garmin R10, designed to be fun rather than serious. Biome-themed courses (volcanoes, glaciers, beaches), game modes like golf pong and rings of fire, and live R10 metrics throughout. Free beta available now for iPhone and iPad.

Building something yourself? Drop it in the comments.

🔥 Sim Steals and Golf Deals

Top Deals:

Launch Monitors & Tech

Projectors & Accessories

Golf Gear

🔦 Sim Spotlight

r/Golfsimulator - DIY Finished Build

A 70-hour work week doesn’t leave much time for the course. So this Reddit User did the next best thing — and used skills from their leather goods business to build a setup that looks anything but DIY. Here’s how they did it, and what it cost.

1. What inspired you to install a golf simulator, and why did you choose your specific location?

I own a leather goods business and work constantly—usually 7 days a week and 10-12 hours a day. Getting to the golf course is next to impossible. But I love golf and need to scratch that itch so i rented another suite in the same building where I have my workshop to build the sim.

2. Walk us through your decision-making process—what factors influenced your choices for the enclosure, launch monitor, software, and other components?

I have always been a DIY guy. From home improvement and auto, to the skills I’ve developed with my profession like upholstery. I knew that with enough planning and research that I could create a great simulator space.

For the enclosure I decided to frame it up with 2x4s then pad and upholster it with high quality vinyl. I have experience with framing and upholstery so it wasn’t very daunting. I bought a raw premium screen to save a few dollars but also because I have the machines to finish them and because I needed custom dimensions to fill my space.

For the launch monitor I chose the Bushnell LPI because I wanted Foresight accuracy and have no intention to take it to the range. Yes it has the expensive subscription but it would take 10 years of $500 a month to reach the price of the GC3.

I use GSPRO for the software because I wanted to have access to a ton of courses and play online with my friends who live out of state.

Originally I bought an Optoma projector but just ordered the BENQ AH500ST because of the fitting and tweaking features built into that unit.

3. Where did you spend the most money in your setup, and do you think it was worth it?

Here’s my cost breakdown:

  • Bushnell LPI - $1,500

  • Benq AH500ST - $2,000

  • PC — $1,300

  • SynLawn Turf — $1,000

  • Sigpro Softy lite hitting strip — $200

  • Raw premium screen — $600

  • Enclosure including wood, pads and vinyl — $500

4. What’s your favorite part of your setup, and why?

My favorite part is my attention to detail with lighting and creating the right vibe with the decor. This is my little sanctuary and it feels so cozy and welcoming. I look forward to just being in the room.

Lastly, it’s named Copa Caverna. I named it after my yearly buddies tournament called Copa de Amigos. I repurposed our logo for it and made signage as an ode to that yearly event.

New ideas to “range”-bait your fellow golfers…

That’s it for today, golfers! Happy 4th!

Our Resources

Disclaimer: we may make a small commission when you purchase off of our links. Thank you for supporting Sim Weekly!

]]><![CDATA[🏌️It’s PRIME Time for Sim Shopping ]]>https://simweekly1.substack.com/p/its-prime-time-for-sim-shoppinghttps://simweekly1.substack.com/p/its-prime-time-for-sim-shoppingThu, 25 Jun 2026 12:03:13 GMTGood Morning, Golfer!!

What does a sim shopper love more than a deal? A deal on reputable brands that’ll actually level up your setup. We rounded up the best Prime Day promos on gear you know and trust so your equipment can live up to your game.

Let’s tee it up! ⬇️

👀 The Three-Putt: 3 Golf Picks You Can't Miss

📰 Must-Read: Check out Rory’s Mount Rushmore of Golf Courses. What’s yours? Let us know in the comments.

⛳ Must-Try: Want your chance to attend the 155th Open in 2027? GOLF+ is launching a VR Open competition, and winner gets tickets. Check it out here.

👀 Must-See: This is the best golf advice you’ll hear this year. Take a page from Max Homa on why being positive on the course is the best thing for your game.

🏌️ Prime Day Deals

25% OFF
SIGPRO Softy LITE Golf Mat
Now $599.99

That’s right—Shop Indoor Golf is on Amazon. And while you’ll pay more than other bargain mats, your wrists will thank you. Just check out our real user data and see how SIGPRO stacks up against the competition (spoiler: it’s #1!)

25% OFF
SIGPRO Hitting Strips
$187.49

If $600 for a mat isn’t in the cards, the SIGPRO Hitting Strip is your answer. Easy on the joints, realistic feel, and compatible with real tees, it’s easy to see why this one’s a fan favorite.

25% OFF
GoSports Golf Simulator Enclosure Nets
$749.99

A full enclosure kit for under $1K? Practically unheard of. GoSports delivers everything you need to assemble a freestanding enclosure in 30 minutes flat. If you’ve been waiting for a sign to go big, this is it.

18% OFF
GoSports Range Cage 10FT x 8FT
$245.98

Sometimes all you need is a solid net to get dialed in at home. GoSports holds up season after season, and you can even add an impact screen to take it full sim.

21% OFF
Rapsodo MLM2PRO Launch Monitor Golf Simulator
$549.99

Let’s be honest—even the budget launch monitors can break the bank. Thankfully, Rapsodo is in range this Prime Day with over $100 off the bestselling MLM2Pro. Our community considers it a 4/5 — not bad for a budget launch monitor.

33% OFF
SKYTRAK ST MAX Launch Monitor
$1,995.00

No, your eyes didn’t deceive you! The latest SkyTrak is on serious sale this Prime Day. Save the extra $1K on the launch monitor and put it toward your enclosure build. Now that’s smart sim shopping.

29% OFF
SIG LITE Putting Green
$156.19

Practice makes perfect. If your goal is to break par by the season’s end, this putting green from SIG is your playbook to making it happen.

16% OFF
WHYGOLF Putting System
$75.99

Need more than a mat to get your stroke in line? This training aid from WHYGOLF fixes your alignment and gets you draining putts like it’s your full-time job.

20% OFF
6 Pack Golf Simulator Padding Panels
$151.99

The fastest way to take your sim from DIY to dream? Padding panels. They give your space a clean, finished look and dampen the noise while they’re at it.

18% OFF
Wall Mount Golf Bag Storage Rack
$89.99

You could leave your bag in the corner. Or you could mount it on the wall and make the whole room feel intentional. Details matter.

15% OFF
GoSports Golf Simulator Turf
$169.99

Commercial-grade golf turf is the finishing touch your sim is missing. Cover the surrounding area and suddenly your setup feels less like a garage and more like Top Golf.

My excuse for what my prime day cart looks like…

That’s it for today, Golfers! Happy shopping!

Our Resources

  • Want to work with us? Get your brand in front of 6.5K engaged sim golfers with Sim Weekly. Learn more here.

  • Have an indoor golf business? Get a custom insurance quote to cover all the lines your business actually needs.

Disclaimer: we may make a small commission when you purchase off of our links. Thank you for supporting Sim Weekly!

]]><![CDATA[There’s two MAJOR events this week…]]>https://simweekly1.substack.com/p/theres-two-major-events-this-weekhttps://simweekly1.substack.com/p/theres-two-major-events-this-weekThu, 18 Jun 2026 12:03:38 GMTGood Morning, Golfer!!

This week’s a two-major week: Father’s Day on Sunday and the U.S. Open teeing off today at Shinnecock. We’ve got last-minute dad gifts, a shot at $300 in GSPro prizes, last year’s Oakmont numbers to chase, and a sim build story from a golf dad. Let’s get into it.

Let’s tee it up! ⬇️

👀 The Three-Putt: 3 Golf Picks You Can't Miss

📰 Must-Read: Rain or Shine Golf is giving away a Rapsodo MLM2PRO, a net, a mat, and a stack of practice accessories. Enter here.

⛳ Must-Try: We’ve been following this creator build an open-source launch monitor from scratch. He just shipped FlightWeb, a cloud service that tracks your sessions and surfaces trends in your data. Check it out here.

👀 Must-See: Someone used shot tracing to play a game of tic-tac-toe. Genius.

🏌️ Last Minute Father’s Day Picks

Prime is coming in clutch this week — gifts for dad, your spouse, the father figure in your life, or honestly, just for yourself.

Launch monitors you can get as soon as tomorrow…

Golf nets / enclosures that’ll arrive before the big day…

Sim accessories worth the upgrade…

Everything else worth grabbing…

🔥 Sim Steals and Golf Deals

Top Deals:

Enclosures, Screens & Nets

Launch Monitors & Tech:

Projectors & Accessories

Golf Gear

⛳ How to do US Open Week the Right Way

We already know your weekend plans. The U.S. Open starts today — if you haven’t cleared your calendar to watch good golf and play on the sim, what are you doing?

P.S. GOLFZON just became the Official Indoor Golf Simulator of the U.S. Open and U.S. Women’s Open — so this week, playing on your sim is the next best thing to actually being at Shinnecock.

Bring on The Competition

Golf Sim Leagues kicks off today. If you’ve got access to GSPro in any way, shape, or form, you’re in for a shot at a $300 prize pool. Week one’s course? Shinnecock Hills Golf Club — so really, you ARE playing in the U.S. Open.

Not your thing? We pulled the best numbers from last year’s U.S. Open at Oakmont. Solo sesh or with friends — see how close you can get.

Shinnecock is loaded on GSPro, and so are the last few U.S. Open courses if you want to take a walk down memory lane. Flyovers below:

This Sim Build is for the Dads

r/Golfsimulator - DIY Basement Sim Build (Spreadsheet Attached W/ Prices)

This reddit user got hooked on golf about two and a half years ago. But with two daughters and a son on the way, they knew frequent tee times would be hard.

The solution? A custom golf sim build. The result? A space immersive enough to help them drop their handicap by 10 strokes.

  1. Walk us through your decision-making process—what factors influenced your choices for the enclosure, launch monitor, software, and other components?

The bushnell launch pro was a highly accurate device, and had the lowest cost of entry for an optical LM. I have been very happy with the device and accuracy. With Uneekor and square coming on the market since I bought, I will say the bushnell subscription setup is a little bit of a bummer. I tend to play most of my rounds on GSpro, but I don’t mind FSX play range, or courses.

I thought about buying a premade enclosure, but after doing enough research on the sub, I decided that building my own would provide a more immersive experience, and look better in my basement.

Overall my strategy from the beginning of this journey has been to get quality equipment, but don’t break the bank.

  1. Where did you spend the most money in your setup, and do you think it was worth it?

The most money I spent was on the launch monitor and computer. After that, turf and wall pads were the most expensive—I tried to find quality items for a decent price. I don’t regret the wall pads, because I think they really elevated the space.

  1. What’s your favorite part of your setup, and why?

Easy, having the ability to get swings in at home! With two young kids, and one on the way, it is very rare I have 4-5 hours to get out on the course (not to mention Seattle rain). The ability to mentally get rounds in, while working on my swing has been incredibly helpful. Last year my HCP dropped from ~24 to 15 and that is all because I was able to work on my game without having to drive somewhere.

Do you own an indoor golf facility?

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Every completed survey submission will be entered into a drawing to win 12 months of Golf Genius Tournament Management for Sims, with an approximate value of $1,400. Already a Golf Genius TM Customer? If drawn, receive a 12-month renewal credit.

Survey Link

Open to U.S. residents 18+ who are authorized representatives of a commercial indoor golf facility. Void where prohibited. Entry Period closes June 30,2026. No purchase necessary; see Official Drawing Rules for free alternate method of entry. Approximate Retail Value: $1,400, based on median annual usage of active Golf Genius TM for Sims subscribers (approximately 700 rounds at $2.00/round list price); actual value will vary based on winner’s usage. Winner is responsible for all applicable taxes. Sponsor will issue IRS Form 1099-MISC for prizes with a realized value of $600 or more; the winner must provide IRS Form W-9 prior to prize fulfillment.

That’s it for today, Golfers! Happy US Open week!

Our Resources

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