Staff WriterA Home Golf Simulator used to be the sort of thing you’d only see tucked inside a country club lounge or some hotel lobby charging £20 for a G&T. Now they’re popping up everywhere, and the idea of having a Home Golf Simulator sitting proudly in your own spare room doesn’t feel far-fetched at all. The real question most golfers ask is simple: What will this set me back?
Here’s the straight answer — a lot less than you think.
Today’s simulator market ranges from budget-friendly setups that cost less than your last driver fitting, right up to luxury rigs with Trackman-level bells and whistles. In short, there’s a ladder for every wallet.
“There is a wide range of price points from a bare bones minimum of around $1,000 up to $60,000+ for a high-end custom simulator,” says Justin Carlson, Vice President of Sales at The Indoor Golf Shop. “With a bare-bones version, you’ll get a hitting net and a lower price point launch monitor. From there, you can add a hitting mat, impact screen, landing pad, projector and gaming PC.”
And that’s the charm of this new at-home golf movement: you can start small and build as you go. The Indoor Golf Shop has become the go-to for golfers who want a setup that evolves with their budget — and their ambition.
Start with a modest net and a basic monitor, and before long, you can graduate to a proper enclosure, a premium screen, a quality mat that won’t tear your elbows to shreds, and a projector that won’t stutter like a bad Zoom call.
But Carlson doesn’t mince his words on cutting corners.
“A few areas that I wouldn’t go cheap on include the hitting mat and insert, impact screen, gaming PC and projector,” he says. “Our SIGPRO line of hitting mats and inserts are designed for better performance, durability and feel, resulting in the most realistic hitting surface that eliminates all possibilities of pain and soreness in your joints.
Our SIGPRO Premium and Premier impact screens provide a quality projected image, longevity, low bounce back and reduced noise. When considering a gaming PC and projector, you want to make sure that you are meeting or even exceeding the minimum requirements of the launch monitor you’re going to use. This will allow for no delay or lag after you take a golf shot, while providing a clean and crisp image.”
That might sting the bargain hunters, but he’s right — if the screen looks like an early-2000s video game or your laptop wheezes like it’s been asked to climb Everest, you’ll regret it.
Space: the silent deal-breaker
Before you even start shopping, measure your space. And then measure it again. Swinging a golf club indoors isn’t a task for tight hallways or rooms where an angry backswing will take out the family vase.
Carlson lays out the gold standard: a 15’ wide, 10’ high, 20’ deep space. Not everyone has that, of course — but The Indoor Golf Shop has workarounds.
“That said, we understand that not everyone has that ideal space so we offer many solutions to accommodate your needs,” he adds.
Don’t run a Ferrari on a lawnmower engine
Another common mistake? Trying to run a full simulator off a basic house laptop. It’s the tech equivalent of strapping a spoiler onto a bicycle.
You need a proper gaming PC — something with enough ports, enough guts, and enough graphics horsepower to render a golf course without coughing. But again, how far you push things depends entirely on your budget and your appetite for DIY.
The Indoor Golf Shop caters to both worlds: the tinkerer who loves a weekend project, and the golfer who wants a turnkey “install it and hand me the club” experience.
Financing: the modern golfer’s safety net
Not keen on dropping a chunk of cash at once? There are options.
“We offer financing through a third party, which is almost instantaneous to get your financing amount,” says Carlson. “If you don’t want to go the financing route, you can always purchase components you don’t want to sacrifice on and then upgrade or add additional components in the future.”
Either way, your game wins. Rain, wind, sunset, childcare duties — none of that stops you from getting in 30 swings after dinner.
The bottom line is simple: the world of at-home golf has opened up. And once you hit your first crisp 7-iron into a virtual fairway without leaving the house, you’ll wonder why you waited this long.
