Carl’s Place Built a 3D Tool That Kills the Biggest Pain in Building a Sim

If you’ve ever tried to design a home golf simulator from scratch, you know the problem.

You measure your room. You stare at enclosure dimensions. You try to figure out whether a 10-foot-wide screen fits in a 12-foot room, or whether your projector placement will cast shadows from the enclosure frame. You email Carl’s Place support with your measurements. They email back with a recommendation. You second-guess it. You measure again. You email again. Three days later, you still haven’t ordered anything.

Carl’s Place just solved that problem.

The company, which is celebrating 20 years in the sim business, launched a new interactive 3D Build Your Own Golf Simulator tool on August 3. It does what the name says: you enter your room dimensions, and the tool walks you through every decision — enclosure size, screen material, mat, projector placement — while showing you a real-time 3D visualization of exactly how it all fits.

How It Works

The flow is straightforward.

Start with your room dimensions. Width, depth, ceiling height. The tool uses those numbers to filter out components that won’t fit — no more browsing enclosures that are too big for your space.

From there, you work through each decision. Enclosure frame type. Screen material. Hitting mat. Projector mount. Side netting. Turf. Every choice updates the 3D visualizer in real time. You see exactly where the enclosure sits, where the projector mounts, and how much clearance you have on each side.

Pricing updates as you go. Every component swap recalculates the total. When you’re done, the tool generates a comprehensive build summary with a 3D view of the finished setup.

You can save the build, share it, or add it to your cart and check out.

That last part is the kicker. Most 3D configurators in this industry are marketing tools — they show you something pretty and then send you to a sales rep. Carl’s Place built one that ends with a checkout button. The pricing is live, not estimated. What you see is what you pay.

Why This Matters

The single biggest friction point in building a home simulator is the “will it fit?” anxiety. You measure your garage six times and you’re still not sure. You read forum posts from people with similar dimensions and everyone’s setup is slightly different. You want to buy but you’re paralyzed by the fear of ordering the wrong thing.

Carl’s Place has always been the go-to for DIY sim builders precisely because they’re good at answering that question. Their customer support team has been doing dimension-based recommendations for two decades. What this tool does is automate that expertise into a self-service experience that works at 11 PM on a Saturday. For a deeper look at Carl’s Place enclosure quality, see our Carl’s Place enclosure review and Carl’s Place HotShot mat review.

It’s also smart for Carl’s Place as a business. The tool reduces support tickets, increases conversion rates, and surfaces upsells naturally — when you see how much better the premium screen material looks in the 3D view, you’re more likely to add it. But from the user’s perspective, it just feels like good product design.

The $20,000 Giveaway

To launch the tool, Carl’s Place is giving away a complete custom indoor golf simulator valued up to $20,000.

Here’s how to enter:

1. Go to carlofet.com/win
2. Use the Build Your Own Golf Simulator tool to design a setup that fits your actual space
3. Click “Share” in the Build Summary and copy your custom build link
4. Paste the link in the entry form and tell Carl’s Place about your space and why a simulator would matter to you

Entries are open through Monday, August 31. The strongest entries will feature a suitable residential installation location, a readiness to proceed with installation, and willingness to participate in photography or video content during installation.

Translation: they want to feature your build. If you’re OK being the poster child for someone else’s sim build, your odds go up.

What I’d Do

If you’re in the market for a home sim and you haven’t bought an enclosure yet, this tool is worth your time regardless of whether you care about the giveaway. The real-time 3D visualization is genuinely useful for understanding how different component choices affect your space. If you’re planning a DIY golf simulator build, this is the best way to plan your enclosure dimensions before buying anything. Even if you end up buying from somewhere else, you’ll walk away with a clearer picture of what fits.

If you’re ready to buy and your space is 10 feet wide or wider with 9-foot ceilings or higher, Carl’s Place has everything you need. Their enclosures are the industry standard for DIY builds. Their impact screens are solid. Their customer support is responsive. Not sure which screen material or enclosure fits your room? Our best impact screen for golf simulator guide and best golf simulator enclosures guide break down the options.

And if you win the $20,000 setup, buy me a beer.

Go design your sim: carlofet.com