Can you putt out on a golf simulator, or does it finish the hole for you?

Why most simulators seem to finish your putts

Most commercial simulators you'll have played are set up for pace. Once the ball is on the green, the software either gives you the putt inside a set distance (a gimme) or adds a fixed number of strokes and moves on (auto-putt). That's a setting the venue chose, not a limit of the technology. In your own room you choose, and on most software you can putt everything out.

Two things have to be true for that to work: the software has to let you putt, and the launch monitor has to read a ball rolling at walking pace. I'll take them in turn.

What each program does

Garmin Home Tee Hero on the Approach^® R50

Garmin's R50 manual lists a Putting setting that enables or disables putting, a Gimme Distance that sets how close the ball must be to the hole for the next shot to be recorded as made, and a Green Speed setting. With putting off, the manual says 0 to 3 strokes are added depending on how close your approach finished. Putting is disabled in Garmin's weekly tournaments. The R50 reads the putter without a club sticker.

Garmin Home Tee Hero on the Approach R10

Different story. The R10 manual says there is no putting in a virtual round, so the same 0 to 3 strokes are added from your approach. The R10 is radar behind the ball and doesn't read putts.

Foresight (FSX 2020 and Premier)

Foresight's FSX manual gives four putting modes: Gimmes, where a ball inside your chosen distance is given one stroke and holed; Auto Putt, where you pre-select the number of putts added once you're on the green; Fast Putting, one putt and then a tenth of a stroke for every foot left; and Manual Putting, where you type the putts in. Leave gimmes at the smallest setting and you putt out. Foresight also sells Essential Putting Analysis as an optional extra for its camera units, which adds putting data such as launch direction, skid rate and time to full roll.

GSPro

GSPro's change log shows gimme circle options, an auto concede option and auto-putt fixed distance settings (not available in SGT events or online play), plus putting auto-aim. Switch those off and you hole every putt yourself. GSPro runs on a Windows gaming PC.

Uneekor REFINE and GAMEDAY

Uneekor's units read the putter (the EYE XO2 spec lists putter ball speeds from 0.44mph), and Uneekor's own blog on putting describes putting a real ball at the screen with two methods: aim straight at the screen and set your start line on screen, or play the break as you see it. I couldn't find Uneekor's gimme or auto-putt settings documented on its site, so check the round settings with the maker before you rely on them.

E6 Connect

E6's manual lists Putting Mode (Gimmes, etc.) under Golf Settings and shows the distance to the pin on the green, so real putting is in. The specific gimme distances aren't in the manual I could read; check them in the software.

Awesome Golf and TGC 2019

I couldn't find official documentation of putting or gimme settings for either, so check with the maker. TGC 2019 is fading out anyway; see which software to choose.

Which launch monitors read putts

• Garmin Approach® R50: yes. Putting is a setting in Home Tee Hero and the putter needs no sticker.
• Foresight GC3, GCQuad and Falcon: yes. Foresight says you can use the sensor and putt a real ball, and its club marker guide covers putters.
• Uneekor EYE MINI, EYE XO, XO2 and XR: yes. The specs list putter ball speeds from 0.22mph or 0.44mph.
• Square Golf: yes. Its manual counts putts from 1.1mph.
• FlightScope Mevo Gen2: yes, with 2.1m from the unit to the ball for putting, per the manual.
• Garmin Approach R10: no. Garmin's manual says there is no putting in a virtual round.
• Golfzon WAVE: yes, by a second device. The WAVE PUTT is an infrared putting sensor that pairs with the WAVE radar by Bluetooth.
• Full Swing KIT: check with the maker; I couldn't confirm it from the manual.

For the full list of which software each unit runs, see software by launch monitor.

The surface: you can't putt well off a hitting mat

Our SimSpace Tee Turf mat has a 30mm turf pile on a 12mm rubber base. It's made for a tee and a divot, and a ball rolls across it slowly and a little unevenly. If you want to putt out properly, give the room a putting-grade surface.

1. Lay putting turf in front of or beside the hitting mat, level with its top, so the ball rolls off one onto the other without a step. GolfBays Premium Putting Turf has a 16mm pile; the 11mm version rolls quicker. Both come 4m wide and cut to length.
2. Or use the GolfBays Modular Putting Green: interlocking turf tiles you can lay to the size of the room and lift later.
3. Have the builder cut a hole for a shallow putting cup where the putting line meets the screen side, and bring the floor up around it so the cup sits flush. A deep cup on a thin turf needs a hole in the floor beneath.
4. Keep the putting line clear of the launch monitor's zone if the unit sits beside the ball, or putt from the same spot as you drive if it's overhead.

On most software you putt towards the screen and read the break on the picture; the real ball stops at the screen and the virtual one carries on. Uneekor's advice is to pick one method, straight line or played break, and stick to it. The hitting mats page covers the mat itself.

Why some owners turn auto-putt on anyway

Pace of play. A four-ball putting out on a simulator adds a lot of time: every 3ft tap-in is a walk, a stance and a stroke, and a round that takes 45 minutes with gimmes can take well over an hour. Foresight's own advice is that auto putt frees up time to focus on the long game. Many owners putt out when they play alone and set a 3ft or 6ft gimme when friends come round. The point is that it's your choice, hole by hole, round by round, not the software's.

If putting out matters to you, plan it into the room now: a launch monitor that reads putts, software with the gimme at its smallest, a putting turf area and a cup. For the software costs behind each option, see simulator software compared and, for the R50 specifically, Garmin Home Tee Hero.