Do I need a PC for a golf simulator?

In summary

Not always. Four of the last five buyers we spoke to on a sales call asked this, usually in the form "how do I control it and see my numbers?" The answer depends on the launch monitor and the software you want to play, not on the projector or the screen. Three groups cover every unit we sell.

• No PC at all: the Garmin Approach® R50. It runs Garmin's Home Tee Hero on its own 10-inch touchscreen and sends the picture to the projector over one HDMI cable, at up to 1080p.
• No PC, but a tablet or phone: Square Golf and the OMNI, the Garmin Approach R10, the FlightScope Mevo Gen2, SkyTrak+ and the Rapsodo MLM2PRO. Each maker's own app runs on an iPad or phone, and you put that picture on the projector.
• A Windows PC every time: Foresight's GC3, GCQuad and Falcon, the Bushnell Launch Pro, Uneekor's EYE MINI, EYE MINI Lite and EYE XO2, the Full Swing KIT and the Golfzon WAVE. Their course software only runs on Windows.

And one rule that cuts across all three: GSPro needs a Windows gaming PC whatever launch monitor feeds it. So does E6 Golf 2026 and Foresight Premier. If those are the graphics you want, budget the PC with the launch monitor.

How you control it without a PC

The thing people picture is a keyboard on a desk. In an R50 room there isn't one. You pick the course, the club and the player on the R50's touchscreen, standing at the mat, and the same picture appears on the big screen through the HDMI cable. Your ball speed, carry, spin and the rest show on the unit and on the projected screen at the same time. Garmin's manual puts the R50's maximum output at 1080p, so a 1080p projector is the right match. Full set-up steps are on how to set up a Garmin Approach® R50.

With a tablet unit the tablet is the control panel. Square Golf's app runs on an iPhone or iPad on iOS 13 or later, an Android phone or tablet on Android 10 or later, or a Windows PC, and course play uses credits rather than a subscription, with 1,000 welcome credits in the box. The Mevo Gen2's FS Golf app is free on iOS, Android and PC, and the 8 E6 Connect courses it comes with run on an iPad. SkyTrak's app runs on Windows, macOS, iOS and Android, and Rapsodo's on iOS and Android. In each case you tap the tablet to choose and play, and the numbers sit on the tablet screen.

Getting the tablet's picture onto the projector is the part the makers say least about. The reliable route is a wired adapter for the tablet's charging port (Lightning or USB-C to HDMI) and an HDMI cable to the projector; wireless mirroring through a box such as an Apple TV also works with an iPad. Square Golf doesn't publish a mirroring guide at all, so for a permanent Square Golf room I'd plan on the Windows version of its app, or a PC for GSPro, from the start.

The PC units are the simplest to describe: the PC is the control panel and the picture. You need a small monitor or touchscreen in the bay to drive it, a keyboard or remote, and the HDMI run goes from the PC to the projector, not from the launch monitor. The Uneekor EYE MINI and Foresight's GC3 and GCQuad still show your numbers on their own screens at the range; the PC is only for courses.

What a PC adds

Three things, and only the first is about the picture.

• Course graphics drawn by a graphics card. GSPro (2,500+ community courses, $250 a year), E6 Golf 2026 (15,000 courses, 4K rendered) and Foresight Premier (rendered in 4K) all draw the course on the PC. Home Tee Hero on the R50 looks simpler because the R50's own processor draws it. Where the picture comes from is on the R50 with GSPro in 4K.
• Resolution. The R50 alone tops out at 1080p. A 4K-spec PC with a 4K projector is the only route to a true 4K picture, on any launch monitor.
• Putting out, online tours and multiplayer. GSPro lets you finish every hole, and its online events need the PC too.

What a PC doesn't add is better shot data. The launch monitor measures the ball; the PC only draws what it is told. A gaming PC on an R50 gives you a prettier picture of the same numbers.

Which PC

The software sets the spec, not the launch monitor. GSPro's 1080p minimum is an RTX 3060-class graphics card and 16GB of memory; for 4K it recommends an RTX 3080 or better and 32GB. E6 Golf 2026 and Uneekor's software ask for 12GB of graphics memory. Our HD Spec gaming PC (RTX 5060 Ti 8GB, 16GB) covers GSPro, E6 Connect, Premier and Full Swing GOLF at 1080p; the 4K Spec (RTX 5070 Ti 16GB, 32GB) covers 4K, E6 Golf 2026 and Uneekor. Every maker's published figure is on what PC or laptop do I need.

Laptop or tower

A tower gives more graphics power for the money and can be upgraded; a laptop can go to the range or another room. Two practical points decide it for most rooms. A tower needs a monitor, so it lives in a cabinet with a screen on top; a laptop is its own screen. And Uneekor's units connect by Ethernet, so a laptop needs a spare Ethernet port or a USB adapter, while the R50, Mevo Gen2 and Square Golf connect to the PC over Wi-Fi, which most laptops have and many towers don't. Check that before either arrives.

Where the PC lives

At the side of the bay, in a ventilated cabinet, with a double socket behind it. From there one HDMI cable runs to the projector and, for Uneekor, an Ethernet cable runs to the launch monitor. In an R50 room that later gains a PC, both the R50 and the PC plug into the projector's two HDMI inputs and you switch between them on the remote. Run the second HDMI at first fix even if the PC comes later: it is the cheapest cable you will ever bury. Cable runs are on golf simulator cabling.

Which I'd choose

If the question is "can I avoid a PC?", the R50 is the only unit that plays courses with nothing else in the room. If you want a tablet unit, the Mevo Gen2 and Square Golf are the easiest to live with. If you already know you want GSPro, E6 Golf 2026 or Premier, the PC is part of the launch monitor cost, so put it in the budget on day one and buy the HD Spec unless you also want 4K.