# A garage golf simulator in a Utah two-car garage: layout, cold and what it takes How a garage golf simulator fits a Utah two-car garage: back-wall layout, width and depth, January cold, lighting, flooring, and a fold-away cabinet. Source: https://beehive-wallbeds.pages.dev/garage-golf-simulator/ The garage is where most Utah home golf simulators end up, because it is the one room in the house with a 9 or 10 foot ceiling and nothing precious in it. It is also unheated, dusty, and shared with two cars. Here is the layout that works in a standard two-car garage, the numbers, what January does to the gear, and what changes when the simulator folds into a cabinet. ## The two-car garage layout A standard Utah two-car garage is 20 to 24 feet wide and 20 to 24 feet deep, with each bay about 10 to 12 feet wide. The simulator goes across the back wall, screen against the wall, and the hitting position 10 to 12 feet out from the screen, which puts you roughly in the middle of the garage. Behind you, 6 to 8 feet of clear floor for a radar launch monitor if you use one, which lands at or just inside the garage door. That means one car is on the driveway while you play. Both cars fit when the mat and screen are stowed, which is the whole case for a [fold-away cabinet](/fold-away-golf-simulator/), covered below. **Width.** 12 to 15 feet of clear width for a right-handed swing with room for a left-hander to use the same bay. A single bay at 10 to 12 feet is tight, so the simulator straddles the two bays at the back wall. **Depth.** 10 to 12 feet from the screen to the ball. Add a foot or two behind the screen for the frame and for air so the ball does not bounce back hard. A 20 foot garage with a 2 foot screen frame and 12 feet to the mat leaves about 6 feet behind you. A 24 foot garage is comfortable. **Ceiling.** 10 feet for driver, 9 for irons. The [ceiling height page](/golf-simulator-ceiling-height/) has the full breakdown, including the door track. Check the numbers with the [fit checker](/fit/). ## January in an unheated garage Utah garages drop below freezing on winter nights, and the Wasatch Front spends a few weeks each winter under an inversion that keeps them there all day. Three things need thinking about. **You.** A garage heater is the upgrade almost every simulator owner adds. A ceiling-mounted electric unit on its own circuit, a natural gas unit vented outside, or a mini-split that also cools in July. Once you are swinging, a garage in the fifties feels fine. The first ten minutes are the problem. **The door.** An insulated garage door with a weather seal is the difference between a garage that holds the heat from the heater and one that cannot. If the door is the original uninsulated steel panel, replace it before buying a bigger heater. **The electronics.** Launch monitors, projectors and PCs have minimum operating temperatures, and condensation when a cold unit meets warm air is worse than the cold itself. A camera launch monitor that lives in a closed cabinet or comes inside in winter is fine. A projector mounted to the ceiling of an unheated garage should warm up with the room before it runs. A PC in a sealed cabinet, or inside the house with a long cable run, is the cleanest answer. Keep the impact screen taut, because cold makes it stiff and a stiff screen bounces balls back faster. ## Lighting Garage lighting is usually one or two bare bulbs at the opener. Camera launch monitors want even, bright, indirect light on the ball and no light shining into the camera. LED shop lights on the ceiling to the sides of the bay, not directly over the ball, and nothing behind the screen. A projector wants the opposite, a dark screen wall. The fix is lights on two switches: bay lights on, screen wall dark. ## Flooring Concrete is fine under a hitting mat, and the mat is the thing to spend on. The rest of the bay is better with interlocking foam tiles or a rubber roll so dropped clubs and balls do not chip, and so your feet are not on cold concrete in January. Epoxy looks good, sweeps easily, and is slippery with snowmelt, so put a mat at the door. ## What a fold-away cabinet changes A fold-away golf simulator cabinet is about 10 feet wide, 8 feet tall and 2 feet deep closed, on the back wall where the screen would hang anyway. Closed, both cars park. Open, the side walls swing out, the screen is on its frame with air behind it, the mat comes out of the base, the lights come on, and the projector and launch monitor are already in place. The electronics live in the cabinet, closed, out of the dust and the car exhaust. The hitting mat is not on the garage floor when the cars come in. Setup is a few minutes instead of dragging an enclosure out of the corner. What it does not change: the ceiling, the width and the depth. The swing needs what the swing needs. Send the garage dimensions, the ceiling height at the back wall, and whether you already own a launch monitor. We reply the same business day with whether it fits and what to plan for the heater circuit. ## Questions people ask **Can I park both cars with a golf simulator in the garage?** With a fold-away cabinet, yes when it is closed, because it is about 2 feet deep on the back wall. With a fixed enclosure, one car usually stays on the driveway. **Is it too cold to use a garage golf simulator in a Utah winter?** Owners play all winter with a garage heater and an insulated door. The gear needs to warm up with the room before it runs, and a launch monitor or PC that lives in a closed cabinet or comes inside is the safe setup. **How deep does the garage need to be?** Ten to 12 feet from screen to ball, a foot or two behind the screen, and room behind you for a radar unit if you use one. A 20 foot garage works and 24 is comfortable. **Which launch monitors work in a garage?** Camera units beside the ball and radar units behind you both work. Camera units want even side lighting and no glare. Radar units want clear floor behind the golfer, 6 to 8 feet for most. --- Beehive Wall Beds: Custom murphy beds, designed in your home, along the Wasatch Front. Design and sales company; beds built by Utah craftsmen and installed by partner crews. Free in-home design visits. hello@beehivewallbeds.com