Will a Golf Simulator Fit in a Two-Car Garage?

The two-car garage is the best golf simulator space in the average American house. It is also the space with the most competition for it: the cars, the mower, the deep freeze, the kid's bikes, and a spouse with a reasonable opinion about all of it.

So: will a simulator actually fit, and can you still park in there afterward? Here are the real numbers.

The short answer

Yes, in almost every case. A typical two-car garage has more width and depth than a simulator needs. The thing that actually stops people is not floor space, it is the garage door track hanging 7 to 8 ft off the ceiling.

Measure to the underside of that track, not to the ceiling. That single number decides most garage projects.

What a two-car garage actually measures

Compare that to what a simulator wants: roughly 12 ft of width, a 9 ft ceiling, and 13 to 15 ft of depth. Even the compact end of that table clears the width and depth comfortably. Only the ceiling row is ever in question, and only sometimes.

Which wall does the screen go on?

Most people assume the back wall, facing the door. Sometimes that is right. Often it is not.

Back wall. The intuitive choice, and it gives you the full depth of the garage to swing in. The problem is that the door track and the opener rail run straight down the middle of the ceiling, right over your head at the hitting position. If your opener is a center-mount chain drive, this is usually the losing option.

Side wall. Less obvious, usually better. You hit across the garage instead of down it. The track runs beside you rather than over you, and the ceiling above the hitting position is clear. You need enough width on that wall for the screen, which is where the exact numbers matter: a Fairway 12 measures 148 1/16 in bracket to bracket, so you want at least 12 ft 4 in of clear wall. Most two-car garages have 20 ft of side wall.

The practical test: stand in each candidate position with a driver and make a slow full swing. Whichever spot you do not hit anything is the right spot. That takes ninety seconds and beats any amount of graph paper.

The garage door track problem, and three fixes

This is the real obstacle, so it deserves its own section.

A standard sectional garage door rides on horizontal tracks that hang from the ceiling and run 12 to 14 ft back into the garage, typically at 7 to 8 ft off the floor. That is below the swing height of nearly every adult golfer with a driver. The opener rail usually runs down the center at a similar height.

1. Move the bay out from under it. The tracks only cover the door bay. Setting up along a side wall, or toward the back beyond where the tracks end, often clears the problem entirely and costs nothing.
2. Switch to a side-mount opener. A jackshaft or wall-mount opener lives on the wall beside the door instead of on a rail down the middle of the ceiling. This is a common, well-established upgrade and it frees the center of your ceiling.
3. High-lift track conversion. Reworks the door hardware so the door travels further up before turning horizontal, raising the tracks toward the ceiling. More involved and more expensive than a side-mount opener, but it buys the most height. Worth pricing if your garage ceiling is 10 ft and the track is the only thing in the way.

Can you still park in it?

With a fixed enclosure, no. That is the honest answer and it is worth sitting with, because it is the decision most people are actually making when they think they are choosing a screen.

A permanent enclosure is a frame, netting, and a screen that occupy their footprint 365 days a year. In a two-car garage it takes roughly one car bay, permanently, plus you cannot pull a car in past it. You are not buying a simulator, you are converting your garage.

With a retractable screen, yes. The rear and side screens roll into compact ceiling housings when you are done, 7 in by 7 in for the main impact screen and 4 in by 4 in for each side screen. Press the remote, the bay comes down. Press it again, the bay goes up and the car comes in. That is the entire reason we build the thing.

The remaining question is the floor. A hitting mat and any turf you lay down do have to live somewhere. Plenty of owners run a mat that slides or rolls, or park a little further forward and leave the mat in place. Worth thinking through before you buy turf.

Five things people forget about garages

• Temperature. An uninsulated garage in August or January is not a place you will want to practice. Insulating the door and adding a mini-split is the most common follow-up project, and it is worth budgeting for if you want year-round use.
• Light. Projectors want a dark room. A garage with windows and a translucent door panel will wash out your image in the afternoon. Blackout the windows before you blame the projector.
• Power. You need a standard 110V outlet near the screen wall, plus outlets for the projector and computer. Garages are often short on receptacles and the ones they have are often on one circuit.
• Structure. Screens mount to studs or joists, or to rated heavy-duty toggle bolts. Never drywall alone. Find your joists and note which way they run before you order.
• Dust and dirt. Garage floors are gritty and grit on a golf ball is an abrasive that prints on your screen. Wipe your balls and club faces. This one habit adds years to a screen.

The measurements to send us

If you want a straight answer on your specific garage, send these five and we will tell you which size fits, or tell you it does not:

1. Width of the wall the screen would go on
2. Height from the floor to the lowest thing over the hitting spot, usually the door track
3. Depth from that wall straight back
4. Which way the ceiling joists run
5. Where the nearest outlet is

Free, no obligation, and we will say so if your garage is not a fit.

Call or text 817-458-8556, email admin@summitvantagellc.com, or use the contact page.

Keep reading: Full room size guide · Ceiling height guide · Park the car again