He may not be Tiger Woods, but the owner of a newly installed Full Swing golf simulator can play all the grand slam golf courses from the privacy of home.

In a world in which work dominates there isn’t enough time to do the things you want – like play golf.

Now, with the help of the Full Swing golf simulator, you can shoot 18 holes on some of the best golf courses in the world from the comfort of your own home.

The Full Swing simulators replicate the game of golf with incredible accuracy and reality. And, if you haven’t got the time or facilities to travel to Melbourne, for example, you can play the Royal Melbourne golf course by selecting it from the menu of nearly 60 international championship courses.

Sydney-based distributor GolfBiz recently completed an installation overlooking the Sydney Harbour featuring a Full Swing simulator installed into an area intended for use as a gymnasium.

“Our problem was fitting the simulator into the space available while allowing the area to house gym and other leisure equipment,” says GolfBiz director Clive Davies.

“This presented some special problems, and a unique solution.”

A Full Swing golf simulator, which weighs 1.7 tonnes fully installed, usually requires a dedicated floor area of 6m by 4m and a ceiling height of 3m. The Sydney Harbour installation had just 30m² to work with.

“Most of the room needed to house a golf simulator is needed just for swinging the club,” Clive says.

“Luckily, there was just enough space available to house the full width of the projection screen, and to allow it to be positioned with enough distance between the screen and the wall to make sure the screen could fully absorb the impact of a ball travelling at 300kmh.”

The main problem for this installation was finding enough space to install the tracking system, which consists of two tracks of infra-red light emitters and receivers built into the walls, floor and ceiling of the booth.

The tracks are positioned about 1m apart and they capture the exact position of the ball as it passes through them.

“The distance between these tracks cannot be altered, because it would change the computer’s data collection characteristics.

“The only solution to creating more usable space was to hinge the entire wall with the tracking system built in, so the walls could be folded back into the screen when not in use.

“This required entirely new power and communication wiring harnesses to be built, and an incredibly strong hinged door and support section to be constructed to swing the tracks to the open and closed positions.”

The speakers were positioned behind the screen away from any impact areas. The computer and audio equipment was housed in another recess away from view, and the touch screen simulation control module was mounted on a wall convenient to a player using the simulator.

The remote control systems also needed to be extended with additional transmitters and receivers to allow control of the systems outside the equipment recess.

Every time a player hits the ball into the screen, the sensor network reads the launch angle, carry, ball speed and spin, then calculates and displays on-screen the ball flight path, carry distance and distance to the pin to assist in planning the next shot.

Clive says the high-strength nylon screen can move up to 200mm depending on how hard the ball is hit. It is connected to a steel frame by a series of elastic bungee cords to absorb the impact of the ball and prevent it from bouncing back at the players.

To further enhance the golfing experience, and to make it as realistic as possible, the system can simulate hitting from the rough, deep rough and sand bunkers – so there’s no escaping the hazards of a real golf course.

“With all of the modifications in place, the owner is now able to play golf almost any where in the world, or go for a walk on his treadmill while watching TV or a DVD.

“Using the picture-in-picture feature provided with the 3,000 lumen projector, the owner can even play golf in the simulator while watching the cricket.

“With the doors closed the area provides enough space for recreational exercise, or just to enjoy the room and take in the beautiful sights of Sydney Harbour.”

The Full Swing simulator is distributed in Australia and New Zealand by GolfBiz and can be seen in the Victorian showrooms of custom installer Cableman.