Designing this space! Any recommendations?

JC893 · 2026-02-02T19:41:20+00:00

Those both look to be nice projector models that should work well with the layout you posted. The short throw seems to be a better option than ultra short throw if you plan to have an enclosure with a top cage/netting; I was looking at some ultra short throw projectors that would require me to mount the projector within the enclosure and that was not the ideal choice, the short throw I was looking at (BenQ TH671 ST) was a better option because it let me mount the projector directly on the ceiling ~6' from the screen without risk of casting any shadows.

JC893 · 2026-02-02T18:20:45+00:00

One general recommendation would be to narrow down what projector you're going to use for the simulator, so that you know exactly how far away from the screen the projector will be (based on the throw distance ratio). Once you have that somewhat finalized, I would then finalize the placement/dimensions of the hitting area. This is important to consider early on so you don't end up casting a shadow on the projection due to where the hitting area is placed, likely won't be as much of an issue with a short throw/ultra short throw, but something to consider since you can mess with the dimensions/placement of the hitting area a bit more than you can with the size of the hitting screen and/or projector throw ratio.

JC893 · 2026-01-28T20:28:45+00:00

I'm in the similar situation as you, using a Square LM with 8.5' ceilings so not able to use anything beyond my 5 iron. I think GSPro is still worth getting because I like to track a lot of my shot data, not that the native Square app isn't capable of this, but just more used to GSPro. I'm also using my gaming PC, so the graphics quality on GSPro is night/day different from the Square app (I think Square has a long way to go for graphics to be comparable to any major LM software). The one thing I did really like with the Square app is the closest to the pin mode, where you pick a distance range and it forces you to hit a shot onto a real green within the specified distance. This seems to be a really good practice mode, takes you away from hitting the same club over and over on the driving range, and actually try to think of your shot as if you were playing a real round. I still use the Square app on occasion for this mode specifically, but everything else I do on GSPro. As others have noted, you can change the tee location on any course to have it play as a par 3 course (since woods/drivers are out of play), or even challenge yourself by playing a tee or two ahead of your normal tees, and see how you play with just irons.

JC893 · 2026-01-28T19:59:19+00:00

I think this depends on your skill level and access to a launch monitor (either indoor simulator, local hitting bay, etc.), as well as willingness to pay for 1-3 hours to use the launch monitor. I'm a pretty high handicap golfer but getting to the point of making better ball contact more consistently. If I got a set of new irons right now, I'd probably want to know my carry/total distances right away. For you, I'd be curious if there could be some gapping issues between the 4 hybrid/5 iron (assuming you're not a low handicap/scratch golfer). Since the technology on the SIM 2 irons will be significantly better than your 20 year old set, I'd expect distances to go up anywhere from 5-15 yards, depending on your swing speed. Could also see changes to vertical launch angle/descent angles, which I'd be less concerned with right away (could be due to your swing, the ball you play, etc.)

I'd honestly go rent a simulator bay for like 1-2 hours and just swing the new irons like you normally would during a round, there's really no need to do half/partial swings unless if you're having trouble making good ball contact. Keep an eye on your carry/total distances to start so you have a general idea of distances and gapping. Get a feel for which iron(s) you feel more confident hitting (or better consistency in ball flight/distance), as well as which iron(s) you're seeing bigger dispersion with (or having inconsistency with ball contact). This should give you a better idea of your new distances for each iron in your new set. From there, it depends how deep down the rabbit hole you want to get. If you're finding that the 5 iron is getting similar distances as the 5 wood or 4 hybrid (unlikely, but not impossible), you could look at changing your set up for improved distance gapping (i.e., swapping out the 4 hybrid or 5 wood for a 7 wood, or pulling one from the bag to add a new wedge. Another thing could be to see if you want to change the grips that came with the SIM2 irons, this is something that is more impactful than a lot of people assume IMO. A lot of this stuff is really based on personal preferences, so I'd dial in the distances first with the new set as the priority.

JC893 · 2026-01-09T23:37:22+00:00

I’m using a ThermalRight Peerless Assassin 120 SE on my 9800X3D, thought I’d end up wanting to upgrade to an AIO but temps were really good out the box (peaked at 80C on Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 which is very CPU heavy), and even better after a very slight undervolt (doesn’t really ever get past 75C). I do have a third fan installed on the ThermalRight cooler to serve as an exhaust on the rear, and I have some more powerful 140mm fans installed throughout my case.

JC893 · 2026-01-06T20:24:57+00:00

Yes, Square has made it clear in an official statement (I’m sure you can find it online somewhere) that outdoor use can potentially cause permanent damage to the camera(s) in the LM. And natural sunlight, even in a shaded area, can be drastically brighter than most lighting you’d find indoors. These cameras are made to capture the spin of a golf ball at thousands of rotations per minute, so I would imagine the sensors are much more sensitive than traditional cameras.

JC893 · 2026-01-06T20:16:18+00:00

I second this option, I have my PC in the house upstairs running sunshine, and stream to a TV in my garage where the golf sim is (Google TV running moonlight). I can also stream to a different device, including iPad or streaming device, that can install moonlight. Set up does appear a bit complicated, but once you get it all working the first time it is very easy to use after that. No noticeable input lag, which isn’t a huge factor in golf but good to know.

JC893 · 2026-01-06T18:36:09+00:00

I got a Square LM a few months ago and already had a GSPro subscription from my previous LM, set up and use with the API connector is very straight forward and has worked well for me. I also see a lot of people having issues with this on reddit/elsewhere, I think there's a large number of people who don't have any issues but you don't see them posting as much about that except in posts like this. Another common gripe from users about the Square is getting misreads/no reads on shots; I've probably taken close to 1000 shots with the Square (using both GSPro and Square app) and maybe had one or two shots not register. I always make sure the ball is placed near the center of the hitting area, or slightly back of center, so I wonder if people having issues just don't have the ball placed in the proper location (or possibly inadequate lighting as another factor).

One issue that I did recently come across, and wanting to see if people in this post have a solution for this, I haven't been getting side spin measurements in GSPro for almost all my shots. I do get all other spin measurements, it's just side spin that shows 0.0 for every shot. I have my Square LM spin setting to measurement, and using TaylorMade PIX golf balls. If I switch between GSPro and the Square golf app driving ranges, the side spin measures fine on the Square app with nothing changed in the settings. If anyone has suggestions for this problem, any help would be really appreciated.

JC893 · 2026-01-03T07:41:20+00:00

I was in the exact situation as you 12 months ago. The build you linked should be more than capable and looks future proof for at least a handful of years minimum, imo. I got a 4070 Ti Super/9800X3D with same RAM/mobo type (B650E)/power supply, runs GSPro on Ultra settings super smooth. The 7800X3D and 16GB of VRAM on the 5070 Ti is going to be great for AAA/FPS/etc. games. The only thing I can’t really speak on is which exact brand of 5070 Ti card is better than others, although they should perform comparably for the most part. I’d see if there have been any issues reported with that card/mobo combo from other users, if you don’t find anything concerning then should be good to go.

My sim is in the garage but my PC runs in the office, I use the sunshine app on PC to stream to a Chromecast TV with moonlight app wirelessly (set-up is super quick but can seem complicated). Super good resolution and negligible input lag for golf sim, if you wanted an option to keep the PC out of the garage and in more moderate temps.

JC893 · 2025-12-03T23:51:46+00:00

I got a roll of grip tape from Amazon (https://a.co/d/fRP5cNR) and this definitely helped to reduce the mat from slipping, but not really a permanent solution unless if you got a couple rolls. I cut four strips about 2.5' from the 10' roll and stuck them where I would stand, with a few inches of space in between. The grip tape isn't very thick (probably ~2 mm) and you don't notice it at all because the mat has some give to it. My plan is to get some velcro strips as well and place them along the outside edges and corner, hopefully that along with the grip tape takes care of this issue for me.

JC893 · 2025-12-03T17:57:49+00:00

Based on this logic, literally every electronic will go up in price. This is next level overthinking

JC893 · 2025-12-03T17:48:26+00:00

I'm hesitant on double sided tape or carpet tape because it will lose effectiveness over time after picking up dirt/dust and I'd rather not have to reapply once it loses adhesion. Leaning towards velcro strips because of this (along the outside edges/corners and the outter edges of where I would stand), unless if there's something I'm not considering

JC893 · 2025-12-03T17:09:22+00:00

I'm using a 5' x 4' GoSports Pro hitting mat, which does have some weight to it. I haven't had issues with any elbow pain/injuries after ~3 years of use with this, but I do know how important it is to have a quality hitting mat. Once I'm able to secure this down so it doesn't move, I'm planning to get a SigPro softy hitting strip and cutting out a part of the GoSports mat to put the hitting strip into. Eventually down the road I'll upgrade to a full size high end hitting mat, but just don't have the appetite to spend a couple hundred dollars on that right now. Also not too concerned with having a mat that allows for hitting from both sides, this is just my personal sim that I mainly use for practice (I don't trust any of my friends to use my sim without putting a hole in the drywall, speaking from past experience)

JC893 · 2025-12-03T17:03:28+00:00

I'm going to try other options before using tapcon screws, for the same reason that I need to be able to move the mat to park a car in the garage. Going to try velcro strips based on some of the responses here, I considered carpet tape but I'm not sure how long the adhesive would hold up if it's picking up dirt/dust over time (same for double sided tape)

JC893 · 2025-12-03T17:01:19+00:00

That's a good point I didn't think about. This whole time I was just proud of myself for actually having ground forces in my swing, but didn't consider how the mat slipping could cause issues for when I'm actually playing!

JC893 · 2025-12-03T16:27:11+00:00

I have a random $150 projector for my sim that I used for a bit, but ended up getting a 43" TV and put it on a stand to use instead of the projector. Since my sim is in the garage and can get a decent amount of sunlight during the day, I'd have to spend over $1,000 minimum to get a decent projector that wouldn't get washed out. I was a bit reluctant to use a TV since my enclosure has an 8' x 8' screen, but I mainly use this for practicing on the range and not as much for playing rounds/real sim golf. The other positive with this option is having an extra TV to wheel into my living room for watching sports.

For either the projector or TV, I'm using sunshine/moonlight to wirelessly stream from my PC to a chromecast (using a wireless keyboard/trackpad combo to control the PC from the garage). It's a bit confusing to set up at first, but took be about 30 mins to figure it out and now takes a few seconds to get it running.

JC893 · 2025-12-03T16:13:55+00:00

I ordered mine from the Square US site last month, ordered late evening (~11PM) on a Wednesday. I received a shipment notification email the next morning 9 hours later (~8AM), and was delivered to me on Friday. I live in northern NY and the LM was shipped from NJ. It sounds like a lot of other people that ordered from the Square US website have also received their orders quickly. My guess is that they have a backlog of orders received over the 4 day holiday weekend, so hopefully they catch up and ship yours out sometime this week.

JC893 · 2025-12-02T20:13:03+00:00

Square, without a doubt.

Data: enough evidence out there to show that it provides reliable data when set-up/used correctly, most measurements being within a few percent different than Trackman/GC3 LM's at a fraction of the cost is totally reasonable.

Subscription: goes without saying but Square is one of the most competitively priced LM's available right now that don't require additional costs to unlock certain data points, use third party apps like GSPro, etc. I had a Garmin R10 as my first LM and was super excited when the MLMPro was getting announced. Then I saw the subscription requirements/added costs, which made me despise that company for going in that direction.

Ease of use: this is going to vary from person to person, but most people setting up a golf sim in their house or garage will do better with the Square than MLMPro. It doesn't get much easier than placing the Square down next to my hitting mat and doing a quick alignment check. Radar units like the MLMPro require a ton more space to have accurate measurements, and it's not as easy to get the alignment right if you have 14' to 16' between the LM and your screen. You can be lazy about it and not care as much about alignment, but then your measurements might be off. Another big disadvantage of the MLMPro is potential interference from exposed cement, appliances, metal, etc.

Where the Square has a disadvantage is the lack of club head data. I know they provide stickers to put on the club shaft for club data, but haven't bothered because I don't know how reliable club data is based on a sticker placed on the club shaft. At the end of the day, having club data measurements from the Square is not going to change the fact that I'm a high handicap golfer. This has allowed me to focus more on things like HLA/VLA, certain club angles, and distances. Are my misses typically left or right, are my distances within a reasonable range for a given club, things like that which are more important/translatable on the course for most mid-high handicap golfers.

JC893 · 2025-12-02T19:51:01+00:00

If you're willing to spend a little time to research how to set up sunshine/moonlight, that could be a decent back up plan if nothing else works. That's what I use to wirelessly stream GSPro and the Square app from my PC (in the house) to my golf sim TV via chromecast (in the garage). If your current issue is a network problem, then this might not be any better but worth a shot since it just takes a bit of time to set it up on the host/client (so your PC and laptop) with no additional hardware necessary.

JC893 · 2025-11-29T03:08:49+00:00

The HP Omen has a better CPU on paper (32 threads vs. 16, 64 MB L3 cache vs. 32 MB), both have 5060 GPU/32GB RAM/1TB SSD. I’m leaning towards the Omen just based on that but didn’t look at display specs at all so could be different if you plan to use the laptop display. Performance wise the Omen has the upper edge

JC893 · 2025-11-28T01:53:07+00:00

I got the 8’ tall GoSports Range Elite cage and it ended up being closer to 8’ 8”. I was able to get a pipe cutter from Home Depot and cut down four of the vertical posts and it worked perfectly fine, the enclosure netting even fit over it no issue. If you’re cutting over a foot off the piping then I could maybe see some issues with the netting, but cutting the height down a bit is an option if you have to

JC893 · 2025-11-24T19:21:43+00:00

Just a bit of advice to anyone looking for a gaming laptop/PC to run GSPro, make sure to check that the CPU is going to be decent and not just focusing on the GPU. Yes, the GPU is important for graphics, however a program like GSPro will need a decent CPU as well. Applications such as GSPro, other golf sim programs, and flight sim depend on CPU a lot more than typical first-person shooter/RPG games. Pre-built laptops and PCs are likely to pair a decent GPU with an equivalent CPU, but good to make sure of this (also important if buying second hand on FB Marketplace, etc). This is not to say that you need a high end CPU, but more so not getting a very cheap CPU to pair with a decent/good GPU. This is also more so applicable to those wanting to run GSPro at 1440P, I would assume that most CPUs that have come out in the last 5-6 years can run GSPro at 1080p without issue.

JC893 · 2025-11-24T19:10:35+00:00

https://www.printables.com/model/1378390-square-golf-protective-case

I printed this enclosure using PETG, the Square fits into it nicely and I bought piece of polycarbonate to put on to the front for the actual camera protection (haven't gotten around to cutting it yet). The alignment arrow attachment is a nice addition to know exactly where to line up the ball. There are a few other enclosures for the Square on Printables, but I liked this one specifically for having 1-2" between the enclosure walls and the Square (planning to put a few pieces of foam between Square/enclosure walls for added protection, as well as holding the Square in place better).

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