Wiring a Golf Simulator Room (UK): First Fix, Sockets and Sound Before the Plaster Goes On

Wire a golf simulator room at first fix: one HDMI lead in 25 mm conduit from the picture source to the projector, a socket at the projector, the hitting position, the PC and the speakers, and one behind the ball if you choose radar. Take the sound before the projector, not out of it. All before the plaster.

Why every sim buyer now asks about wiring

This month the wiring questions arriving on WhatsApp are from garden buildings at first-fix stage, and that is the right moment to ask. A home simulator is a projector, a launch monitor, sometimes a PC, and a handful of leads between them. Every lead has to cross the room, and once the plasterboard is up the only route left is trunking along the skirting. In our experience the tidy rooms are the ones where the simulator was on the builder's drawing before the first cable went in.

This is the list I recommend handing to your builder and electrician. For the room itself, use our golf simulator room design page and our Sim Buyer Docs page on whether a simulator will fit your room. This article is about what goes inside the walls.

First fix versus second fix

First fix is everything done before the walls and ceiling are closed or plastered: cable runs, conduit, back boxes and any new circuit. It is the only stage where the simulator affects the builder. Second fix is the work after decoration: faceplates, light fittings, plugging the kit in. Nothing in it goes inside the walls, so the boxes that sit between the kit (an HDMI switch, a sound adaptor) can be bought any time.

Our rule, which is our practice rather than a maker's instruction: run every lead in 25 mm conduit with a draw string, rather than plastering the lead in, so any lead can be swapped later. HDMI plugs are bulky, so leave room at each end. Keep every cable out of the hitting area and off the walkway.

The one HDMI lead

One HDMI lead carries picture and sound from whatever makes the picture to the projector: the Garmin Approach® R50 itself in an R50 room, a PC in a GC3, EYE MINI, Square Golf, Mevo or KIT room, or a tablet with an adaptor. It is not included in our packages or in any launch monitor's box, so order it with the kit.

Measure the real route, up the wall, along the frame or ceiling and down to the projector, plus a metre spare at each end. Our 10 m HDMI 2.1 lead covers most rooms. The R50's maximum output is 1080p and our packages use a 1080p projector, so any certified High Speed lead works today; ours is HDMI 2.1 at 48 Gbps, so it also covers a 4K projector later. Over 10 m, use an active optical HDMI lead; these work one way round, so check which end is marked for the display before you pull it through.

HDMI ARC and eARC send sound back out of a display to a soundbar. You do not need ARC to get a picture, and the projector in our packages does not have it.

The socket plan

Give the electrician the full list of what will be plugged in; the number of sockets is the hardest thing to change later.

• Projector position: the projector, plus the HDMI switch if there is one.
• Hitting position: the launch monitor's adaptor or charger. The R50, GC3, EYE MINI and Square Golf all sit beside the ball, so one socket at the side of the mat covers them.
• Behind the hitting position: radar sits behind you. The Mevo Gen2 wants a socket about 2.4 m behind the ball, the Full Swing KIT about 3.05 m back.
• PC position: a double socket for the PC and its monitor.
• Speaker position: powered speakers, a soundbar or a subwoofer each need power.
• Heater or dehumidifier: a fan heater draws 2 to 3 kW, most of one 13 A socket, so give it a socket of its own.

Never daisy-chain extension leads to make up for a socket that was not fitted. Your electrician will protect the new sockets with a 30 mA RCD as standard practice. A garden room usually needs a new circuit from the house, and in England a new circuit is notifiable under Part P of the Building Regulations, so use a registered electrician who certifies the work; the government's Approved Document P is the official reference. While the trench is open, lay a data duct with the power cable so Ethernet can follow later, and put dimmable lights over the hitting area on their own switch, kept off the screen.

What each launch monitor needs at first fix

The launch monitor decides where the sockets go and whether there is a PC in the room at all.

Two details from the makers' manuals that catch people out: the EYE MINI connects by CAT6 straight into the PC, not through a router, so the PC needs a second port or Wi-Fi for the internet; and the Mevo Gen2 is powered by the USB-C to USB-C lead from its box, because FlightScope says a USB-A lead cannot supply enough current, which is why its socket belongs behind you. If there is a PC, put it beside the bay or at the back of the room, with a double socket and Ethernet from the house if the Wi-Fi is weak. Our sim-spec gaming PC is the usual choice for a 1080p room.

Projector mounts: floor case, ceiling or arm

Our packages ship the BenQ AH500ST in a floor case, which needs nothing fixed to the room. Its throw ratio is 0.499, which puts the lens about 2.04 m from a 2.3 m-high screen (2.48 m for the taller SIM 5 and SIM 6 screens); BenQ's AH500ST specification has the figures if your builder wants them.

That number corrects a piece of advice I noticed doing the rounds: "mount the projector behind your head". With a short-throw projector the lens sits in front of the ball. You stand 2.5 m from the screen and the lens is 2.04 m from it, so the projector is between you and the screen, in a case that shields it from a low shot. The first-fix needs are a socket near the case and an HDMI route to it, round the edge of the room or under the turf in a cable cover, never across the hitting area.

A ceiling mount is the one choice that must be made at first fix: a fixing point that takes the mount and the projector, power at the mount (a socket in the ceiling void or a fused spur) and the HDMI arriving there, before the ceiling is closed. An enclosure-mounted arm fixes nothing to the room: the projector sits on the frame at the front of the bay, so a socket at the front corner and a route to it are all the builder needs. The arm is made for 0.5 throw-ratio projectors such as the AH500ST, not the AH700ST.

Sound: take it before the projector, not out of it

This is where most online advice is wrong, so here are the facts from BenQ's manual. The AH500ST has two HDMI 2.0a inputs with HDCP 2.2, a built-in 10 W mono speaker, and one 3.5 mm output that is mixed to mono even from a stereo input. It has no optical output, no ARC or eARC, and no CEC in BenQ's manual or spec pages, so treat CEC as not supported. The built-in speaker mutes when the jack is used. It is a poor source for any speaker system, so the routes that work are:

• Built-in speaker. Fine for the ball strike and a putt dropping. Nothing to wire.
• Bluetooth speaker from the R50. Garmin's R50 owner's manual says in-game sounds go out over HDMI or to a paired Bluetooth speaker.
• HDMI switch with audio extraction. For proper speakers in an R50 room: HDMI in from the R50 (and a TV box), HDMI out to the projector, stereo out to the speakers or soundbar. The switch lives at the projector position, so the first-fix run is a stereo RCA or optical lead from there to the speakers, plus a socket at the speakers.
• Speakers on the PC. In a GC3, EYE MINI, Square, Mevo or KIT room the PC has its own 3.5 mm, USB and Bluetooth outputs, so the speakers connect to the PC and the projector gets picture only.
• Specify the AH700ST. If sound over HDMI genuinely matters, BenQ's AH700ST has eARC and can feed a soundbar or receiver with an ARC input. Its throw ratio is 0.69 to 0.83, so the lens sits further from the screen and it does not suit the enclosure arm; check the throw fits the room first.

Powered speakers and soundbars need a line-level stereo input (RCA, 3.5 mm or optical). Hi-fi systems with their own connectors need the maker's adaptor lead and a source with volume control.

Watching TV on the same projector

The AH500ST's second HDMI input takes a Sky box, streaming stick or games console, and you switch between golf and TV on the projector remote. Both inputs are HDCP 2.2, so streaming services play. The projector cannot pass TV sound on over HDMI, so either the box's own audio output feeds the speakers, or the box goes through the same HDMI switch as the sim source. First fix: an HDMI from where the box will live to the projector position, a socket there, and for a Sky box an aerial or satellite feed.

The ten-line brief to hand your builder

1. Simulator kit arrives at second fix; everything below is first fix, in 25 mm conduit with draw strings.
2. One HDMI route from the picture source (R50 at the mat, or the PC) to the projector position, a metre spare each end. Over 10 m, active optical.
3. Projector mount: floor case (socket and HDMI route), ceiling (fixing point, power and HDMI before the ceiling closes) or enclosure arm (socket at the front corner of the bay).
4. Socket at the hitting position for the launch monitor.
5. Radar only: socket 2.4 m (Mevo Gen2) or 3.05 m (KIT) behind the ball.
6. PC rooms: double socket at the PC, plus CAT6 from the mat to the PC for an EYE MINI.
7. Sound: stereo RCA or optical from the projector position to the speakers, socket at the speakers.
8. TV: HDMI from the box to the projector position, socket and aerial or satellite feed at the box.
9. Heater on its own socket; sockets RCD protected; garden room on a new circuit, certified under Part P.
10. Data duct laid with the power; dimmable lights over the hitting area on their own switch, off the screen.

See our Sim Buyer Docs page on first fix for this brief as a single page to forward, and our Sim Buyer Docs page on how to set up a golf simulator for where the builder leaves off.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need an electrician for a golf simulator?

For the kit itself, no: it plugs into ordinary sockets. You need one for new sockets or a new circuit, and a garden room almost always means a new circuit, notifiable under Part P in England. We supply and support the kit; we do not install it.

How long an HDMI cable does a golf simulator need?

Measure the real route, not the straight line, and add a metre at each end. A 10 m lead covers most rooms with a floor-cased projector. Beyond 10 m use an active optical lead and check which end goes to the projector.

Where should the projector go?

With the short-throw AH500ST, in front of the ball: about 2.04 m from a 2.3 m-high screen, in a floor case or on the enclosure arm. A ceiling mount also works, but it needs power, HDMI and a fixing point before the ceiling is closed.

Can I run surround sound from the projector?

Not from the AH500ST: its only output is a mono 3.5 mm jack and it has no ARC or eARC. Take the sound before the projector with an HDMI switch with audio extraction, connect the speakers to the PC in a PC room, or specify the AH700ST with eARC if you accept its longer throw.

I recommend one test before you sign off the first fix: walk the room with the brief above and point at where each socket and conduit will come out. If you can point at the projector, the mat, the PC, the speakers and, for radar, the spot behind the ball, the plaster can go on. Any term I have used is explained in a line in our glossary.

Not sure which option fits your space or budget? Message our sim experts on WhatsApp for a free consultation — no obligation.