Indoor Golf Simulators

Perhaps you’ve seen these machines at your local arcade or local restaurant or tavern.  These machines look like an old-school projection screen setup for an external projection television set.  Why are these guys whacking golf balls into this screen?  Seems like a lot of fun, right?  The indoor golf simulator has been around for the last 25 years and they’ve been keeping up with the latest technological advances.

The early days of these simulators suffered from early forays into sensor technology.  Where you hit the ball didn’t always register with the system and the ball would end up somewhere else on the fairway or even worse, the rough.  Users and Manufacturers of the system stuck with it and applied the latest patches and technologies as they became available.  This improved the accuracy of your shots and it improved the overall game play immensely.

Let’s go through a simple tour of the golf simulator as we’ll point out what it consists of and how those parts all work together.  The machine’s CPU and housing are set up near the hitting tee, this is where all the information goes to and data is constantly being monitored and processed.  The CPU housing and driving tee are set upon a synthetic turf that resembles old-school Astroturf.  

You have nets along the side of the playing area for any wayward shanks off the tee and a large screen in front of the driving tee.  This screen is where you will cast your eyes to the most as it shows the course from your POV, whether it’s on the tee or on the fairway.  This screen has many sensors built into the fibers of the screen, these sensors pick up where the ball is hit, giving you an accurate shot every time.  

The premise of the way you play indoor golf is that you have your regular clubs and golf balls, and you shoot your ball off of the tee into the screen in front of you.  Most of today’s simulators also have an included shot monitor to show your shot speed, shot angle, ballspin, and other pertinent data that the CPU collects.  All of this data is gathered and computed at real-time speeds along with the screen sensors to give you an extremely accurate representation of making a real-life shot on a golf course.

The beauty of these simulators is the fun that can be had by all parties as the choice of courses are vast.  You can play world-famous faraway courses that you’ve only seen on real golf tournaments on television.  The indoor golf simulator is a great way to play 9 or 18 holes when the weather outside prohibits you otherwise.