Hockey-Player-Turned-Golfer Builds Basement Golf Simulator

Adding a golf simulator to a basement with 9-foot ceilings is possible with Carl's Place. See how one hockey-player-turned-golfer converted his space.

Kyle H. had dreams of having a home golf simulator for years. His family was looking to move out of its starter home onto something a little bigger. All it took was for them to find a house with 9-foot ceilings in the basement for them to not only buy the house, but plan to add a golf simulator room.

The 31-year-old Illinois resident, who is married with a daughter and a couple of dogs, played hockey from age 5 through college with some golf sprinkled in between. Once he retired from hockey, he turned his attention to improving his golf game.

Anybody else think of Happy Gilmore?

“We live in the Midwest, so having a simulator will be amazing over the winter months,” Kyle said. “Right now, I’m around an 8 handicap and hoping the simulator can help me get better.”

When the family moved in, their new basement was completely unfinished. Kyle, a sales and designer manager, put his design skills to work and tapped into a few of his wife’s family members, who work for a construction company, and finished their basement in a little over a month.

The golf simulator was built in a more open room area in the basement and included:

• Carl’s Place Pro Enclosure

• BenQ MX819ST projector

• Country Club Elite hitting mat

• Uneekor EYE XO launch monitor

• TGC 2019 golf simulator software

Design provided by Kyle H.

“TGC has been a really fun software. To have so many courses is amazing,” Kyle said. “I was also able to find my home course as well as a few other local courses. It seems funny to get a simulator that gives you the ability to play anywhere, but then you choose local courses… but it’s been super fun playing courses I know or grew up playing.

“I’m left handed, and the ability to seamlessly go back and forth from lefty to righty, and be able to use any ball I want, has been amazing (with the EYE XO),” he added. “I’m extremely impressed with the sensor's accuracy and reliability.”

Kyle added that his Country Club Elite hitting mat is a great starting mat, but he would like to upgrade that, along with his minimum-spec computer, in the future. 

Hopefully Kyle also has a golden, hockey-stick-looking putter. And with 9-foot ceilings, he’s got plenty of room for his golf swing, as well as a hockey swing (if he wants to get back into it). 

Carl’s Tip: If you don’t have the design skills that Kyle has, we can help. Check out what we offer with our Custom Sim Design Service. 

Since the project was finished a few weeks ago, Kyle said family and friends have been over almost every night to use it. Their goal for their home simulator is to entertain both family and friends, but also to work on their game.

“My wife loves golf and plays with me a lot, but really wants to focus on using this simulator to work on her game,” Kyle said. “My dad and father-in-law are also very into golf and love coming over, and I have some college hockey buddies who live close by and they are at my house almost every night using it.”

Kyle heard of Carl’s Place through a friend who had already purchased an impact screen from Carl and “really liked it.”

“(Carl’s Place’s) website is super easy to navigate, they have custom impact screens and sizes, and the support was way better than other places,” Kyle said. “There were a few blogs that had a detailed breakdown of how to get a simulator for certain costs. That was an awesome kickoff point.

“(Customer service representative Zach) was awesome. I’m super detail oriented and this was a big purchase for us, so I had a TON of questions,” Kyle said. “I probably drove him crazy sometimes, but he answered everything perfectly and was extremely helpful.”

Now we’ll have to see if their home golf simulator will help Kyle, err Happy, go on to take down Shooter McGavin.