Carl’s Place DIY Golf Simulator Enclosure Review

This is a review of the Carl’s Place DIY Golf Simulator Enclosure, which was previously sold under the C-Series name. I had the original Carl’s DIY enclosure in my garage for about a year before upgrading to what was then called the C-Series enclosure, now once again labeled as the DIY enclosure kit.

When I first had the idea to build a home golf simulator I was overwhelmed and assumed it wasn’t really possible. When I discovered you could buy a pretty simple golf simulator enclosure kit I felt like the whole thing was easier than I once thought.

Overall, I’ve found the current Carl’s Place DIY Enclosure (formerly C-Series) to be an improved version with a cleaner fit than the original enclosure.

I also found Carl’s Place to be an excellent company with great customer service which I’ll explain further in this article.

Continue reading for all the details on the new Carl’s Place enclosure and Carl’s Place.

Note on naming: Carl’s Place has changed the naming of this enclosure over time. What was originally called the DIY Enclosure Kit was later renamed the C-Series enclosure. Since this review was first published, Carl’s Place has returned to calling this model the DIY Enclosure Kit. Throughout this article, when you see references to the C-Series, DIY enclosure, or Carl’s Place enclosure, they are referring to the same current product.

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Carl’s DIY Enclosure Kits

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Video Review

Assembly

The assembly of the enclosure was pretty simple as there’s 3 main steps:

Assemble the frame using 1” EMT (electric metallic tubing) and the pipe connectors.
Attach the nylon enclosure to the sides and top of the frame using Velcro and ball bungees.
Attach the screen to the frame with zip ties and cable across the bottom.

I was able to set the entire thing up by myself in just over an hour.

carls golf simulator enclosure EMT frame

The hardest part was connecting the long crossbars on a ladder but it would have been easy with an extra set of hands for that part.

It was also easy because I purchased the pipe framing kit from Carl’s Place which includes all of the EMT pre-cut to size. You can opt not to purchase that and save some money by sourcing the EMT from a local hardware store.

Finished Look

Once it was all put together I have to say it looked great. Much better than my original Carl’s Place DIY Enclosure that had some excess slack in the screen.

The new Carl’s Place Enclosure uses a screen that goes all the way to the floor where the original DIY Enclosure screen had a black flap at the bottom which meant the visible area was shifted up from the ground.

The new screen gives a cleaner look and makes it a little more realistic with putting and short shots around the green.

I also think the screen fits better in general and has less slack. You can adjust the tension but don’t want it too tight or you’ll get excessive ball bounce back.

Screen Options

Carl’s offers 3 different screen options:

Standard
Preferred
Premium

I’ve had the premium screen on both the original DIY Enclosure and the new enclosure.

It has a very fine surface and is multi-layered to help absorb impact and sound. It’s actually kind of soft and squishy almost.

The Preferred screen is a single-layer but still tightly woven.

The Standard screen is loosely woven and designed to be a budget screen.

Ball Bounce Back

One common problem with golf simulator screens is ball bounce back. That’s when the ball hits the screen and bounces back towards you with too much speed.

It can send golf balls flying behind you and rolling around the room you’re in.

This is controlled by the distance you are hitting from as well as the tension on the screen.

10-12ft from the screen is ideal although you can get away with more or less depending on your setup.

The original DIY Enclosure screen was attached with ball bungees just like the nylon enclosure material. At first I used all of the bungees and the screen was super tight.

I got way too much bounce back when hitting my longer clubs.

To reduce it, I had to remove multiple bungees on all sides until the bounceback was acceptable. Unfortunately this caused some excess slack and waves in the screen.

The new Carl’s Place enclosure screen is attached with zip ties on the top and sides and a wire cable through the bottom.

When I first set it up I only tightened the zip ties enough to hold the screen in place, evenly on all sides. I assumed I would have to make some adjustments later but to my surprise I didn’t.

The new DIY enclosure screen seems to be a better fit and has less slack.

Long-Term Use and Screen Tension Adjustments (3-Month Update)

After using the Carl’s Place enclosure for a little over three months, I decided to spend some time making small adjustments to the screen tension. This wasn’t because anything was wrong, but more out of curiosity to see if I could tighten things up even more.

It’s worth noting that once I get a simulator set up, I usually don’t touch it again. I just want to play golf. So this kind of tweaking isn’t required, but it can help if you’re particular about screen appearance.

Screen Waves and Wrinkles

Like most simulator screens, the screen looks its worst when the projector is off or when viewed from an extreme side angle. Straight on, with the projector on, the waves are barely noticeable.

Even before making adjustments, the screen already looked better than my original Carl’s Place DIY enclosure. That improvement comes from the newer attachment method using zip ties on the top and sides along with a wire cable across the bottom.

After tightening the zip ties evenly—especially along the top—I was able to reduce the remaining waves slightly. The difference wasn’t dramatic, but it was noticeable in person. Importantly, none of these waves are visible during actual play.

Zip Tie Wear Over Time

While making these adjustments, I noticed that a few zip ties near my primary strike area had broken. This area takes the most repeated impact, especially since I hit from an offset position rather than dead center.

Replacing them was quick and easy. After tightening everything evenly, the screen held its shape well. This is something to be aware of if you hit from an offset position: it may be worth doubling up zip ties in that high-impact area to prevent future breakage.

Bounceback After Tightening

After tightening the screen further, I tested bounceback with mid-irons and driver. At about 11.5 feet from the screen and with average swing speeds (around 145 mph ball speed), bounceback remained manageable.

With the screen tighter, bounceback did increase slightly, especially on well-struck driver shots, but it was still within a comfortable range. For my setup, this level of tension struck a good balance between appearance and safety.

This highlights an important point: perfectly flat screens are not the goal. A little slack helps absorb energy and reduces bounceback. Chasing a perfectly smooth screen can actually make performance worse.

Ball Marks and Screen Wear

After a few months of use, ball marks are visible up close, particularly in the high-impact strike zone. These aren’t dirt marks but minor burn marks caused by high-spin shots, mostly from wedges.

This is completely normal for simulator screens. I use the same ball I play on the course (Pro V1) and don’t plan to switch to lower-spin balls just to protect the screen. With the projector on, these marks are not visible during play.

Enclosure Add-Ons

Pipe Framing Kit

I mentioned above that adding this made the whole thing pretty easy. Just take everything out and assemble.

If you’re looking to save some money then you certainly buy your EMT from Home Depot and cut it all yourself. Carl’s Place will give you all of the exact lengths to cut to as well.

Net Wall Extensions

These velcro to the side of the enclosure and are held in place by sandbags on the other end. They may be a good idea if you’re worried about a shank bouncing around your room but their usefulness will mostly depend on your setup.

I hit from about 11.5ft away from the screen and I’ve only had 1 or 2 shanks miss the enclosure completely.

Also, my hitting strip is offset to the right of center.

If I were hitting from the center those shanks may have stayed within the enclosure.

The farther away you hit from the screen the more likely these are a good idea.

Foam Insert Kit

These are pieces of foam designed to fit within the flaps around the edge of your screen.

Without them there’s a chance a golf ball hit at the edge of the screen could bust the velcro flap and bounce off the pipe behind it.

Again, your specific setup may dictate how likely that is. In my case, it happened once or twice.

Instead of the foam kit from Carl’s Place I picked up some gutter foam from Home Depot. Its triangular shape fits perfectly under the flaps of the screen. This is a much cheaper DIY solution.

Back Cover Kit

A new option for the Carl’s Place Enclosure is the Back Cover Kit. This adds more framing just behind your screen that’s covered with more nylon enclosure material.

The idea here is that it blocks any ambient light behind the screen which will give you a much better projected image.

My enclosure has a solid wall about 16” behind it so I didn’t find it necessary but I do think it will be a big help for some people.

Ball Marks

One thing you should be aware of is that your screen will get plenty of ball marks on it but it’s normal and shouldn’t be very visible when your projector is on.

You should always use clean golf balls and clubs and don’t use any balls with sharpie markings on them because it can rub off on the screen.

The ball marks that you can’t avoid are actually slight burns from hitting high spin shots (mostly your wedges).

Up close you’ll see some light brown markings and scuffs. Some people choose to use low-spin golf balls to avoid this but for me I want to use the same ball I play with (ProV1).

Just don’t be surprised when you come across this.

Carl’s Place Customer Service

If you are building a new golf simulator it makes sense to purchase as many of the components as possible from one source so that they can help you with any issues you might have.

Here’s an example.

I knew I was going to buy my simulator enclosure from Carl’s and I was trying to figure out what projector I should go with.

The projector is the most complicated part of building a golf simulator in my opinion.

I picked one out (I don’t remember how exactly) but at the last second I decided to contact Carl’s customer support and see what they said about it.

Turns out the one I had picked out needed to be mounted too close to the screen and is better to be floor mounted. I wanted to mount my projector to the ceiling.

Carl’s customer support recommended another projector at the same price that could be mounted just overhead and behind my hitting strip.

They saved me from making a mistake and I knew I could contact them again if I had trouble setting it up.

I could have bought either of those projectors on amazon for the same price.