Carl's Place DIY vs Pro vs Curved: Which bay fits your room?

The takeaway is simple: buy the frame and screen shape your room can actually hold, then let the budget follow. A Curved bay in a room that is too narrow is a worse buy than a DIY bay that fits with room to swing. Carl's Place sells three enclosure lines that look similar in photos and solve different rooms.

All three are complete screen and enclosure kits built for real golf balls at full speed. All three use BlackStop panels to trap light and catch stray shots. None of them include the EMT pipes for the frame. You cut your own to the included list, or you add the pre-cut Pipe Framing Kit. Budget for the pipes either way.

The three lines at a glance

• DIY C-Series: from $999.95 as of Oct 24, 2026. Flat screen, 1-inch EMT frame, 5 ft depth only, four screen materials. The budget first build.
• Pro: from $3,409.95 as of Oct 24, 2026. Flat screen, 2-inch EMT frame, depths up to 15 ft, Premium screen as standard. The finished, pro-grade flat bay.
• Curved: from $4,894.95 as of Oct 24, 2026. Wraparound screen, 2-inch EMT frame, depths of 8, 10, or 15 ft, Premium screen as standard. The maximum immersion pick.
• Check our deal pages for the live price on your exact size before you buy. Sizes and screen choices move the price a lot inside each line.

DIY C-Series: the first build

The DIY C-Series is the kit for a golfer who is happy to cut pipe and tension a screen. It comes in six stock sizes, from an 8 ft square bay up to 13 ft wide, and every size is 5 ft deep. That fixed depth is the line's main limit. If your room wants a deeper bay, the DIY line cannot give it to you.

The screen choice is where the DIY line earns its flexibility. Four materials are on offer: Standard, Preferred, Premium, and High-Contrast Gray. Standard keeps the price down for a practice-first bay. Premium is the triple-layer screen that also ships on the Pro and Curved lines. High-Contrast Gray is the pick for a room with daylight you cannot fully kill.

The frame is 1-inch EMT, and that thinner frame is why the DIY line costs less and why it cannot carry overhead gear. PlayBetter's DIY vs Pro vs Curved comparison puts it plainly: the DIY kit cannot mount launch monitors or projectors, while the Pro kit can mount them on crossbars. If an overhead launch monitor is in your plan, that single fact rules the DIY line out.

Room math for the DIY line starts with 10 to 12 ft from screen to tee, plus swing room behind you. Top Shelf Golf's DIY package figures run to 16 ft 9 in of room depth, or 18 ft 9 in for a full driver swing. Add 2 to 3 inches of buffer around the frame on the sides and top, and 12 to 16 inches of clearance behind the screen for the rear fittings.

Pro: the finished flat bay

The Pro line is the same flat-bay idea, built heavier and finished better. The 2-inch EMT frame is stiffer, the enclosure fabric is a higher grade black knit, and the screen tension runs higher, which gives a flatter picture. The Premium triple-layer screen is standard, with High-Contrast Gray as the upgrade.

Depth is the Pro line's real advantage over DIY. Larger Pro sizes offer 5, 8, 10, and 15 ft depths, so a dedicated room can buy a deeper, more enclosed bay instead of living with 5 ft. That depth also makes room for the crossbar mounting the DIY line lacks. An overhead launch monitor or a projector mount is a Pro-line feature, not a DIY one.

The Pro line's six height and width pairs run from 8 ft high by 10.5 ft wide up to 10 ft high by 15.5 ft wide. A 9 ft high by 12 ft wide bay at 8 ft deep is a sensible middle of the range for a dedicated room: tall enough for most driver swings, wide enough to feel comfortable, deep enough to feel enclosed. Top Shelf Golf puts the Pro enclosure's minimum room depth at 16 ft, and the same swing room and buffer rules as DIY apply on top of the bay itself.

Buy Pro if the bay is a permanent room, if you want the flattest flat screen Carl's Place sells, or if overhead mounting is part of the plan. Skip it if a 5 ft deep DIY bay already fits and the extra rigidity buys you nothing you will notice.

Curved: the wraparound bay

The Curved line wraps the screen around your stance, so the course fills more of your peripheral vision than any flat screen can. The screen is the same triple-layer Premium material as the Pro line, with High-Contrast Gray as the upgrade, and the frame is 2-inch EMT. The curve rise is 4.5 ft on every Curved enclosure.

Curved sizes are the biggest of the three lines: 14 to 17 ft wide, 9, 9.5, or 10 ft high, and 8, 10, or 15 ft deep. Carl's Place puts the smallest space that fits a Curved enclosure at 9 ft high by 12.5 ft wide by 18 ft deep, including buffer. That is a dedicated-room footprint, not a spare-corner footprint. If your room is under 14 ft wide, the Curved line is off the table before price even enters the conversation.

Two Curved details catch buyers out. First, you do not need a special projector for a curved screen, but you may need software that supports image warping, so check your sim software before you order. Second, measure projector throw to the leading edge of the curve, the part closest to you, not to the deepest part of the screen. Measure to the back of the curve and the image will not fill the screen the way you expect.

Screen material and bounce-back

All three lines use a floor-to-turf screen design with no black border at the bottom, so low shots and putts run onto the image instead of dying on a border. Bounce-back is controlled by screen tension and material, not by the line name. A loosely tensioned screen throws the ball back at you. A properly tensioned triple-layer Premium screen absorbs the strike and drops the ball.

That is why the DIY line's screen choice matters more than its price gap suggests. A DIY bay with the Premium screen and careful tensioning will play better than a Pro bay with a slack screen. Tension the screen evenly, give it a couple of days under tension to settle, and keep new balls clean. The screen is the part you hit. Treat it that way.

Our take

Buy DIY if this is a first build, if the room fits a 5 ft deep bay, and if you are happy cutting pipe to save money. Pick the Premium screen if the projector is decent, or High-Contrast Gray if daylight is a fight. Skip DIY if you need overhead mounting or more than 5 ft of depth.

Buy Pro if the room is dedicated, if you want the flattest flat image, or if an overhead launch monitor or projector mount is in the plan. The 9 ft by 12 ft size at 8 ft deep is the sweet spot for most dedicated rooms.

Buy Curved if the room clears 14 ft wide and 18 ft deep, if immersion is the point of the build, and if your software handles image warping. The base 9 ft by 14 ft size at 8 ft deep is the entry point to the line, and it is the only Curved size with a second retailer row on our site.

The wrong buy is not one of these three lines. It is a bay that is too wide for the room, too short for your driver swing, or too shallow for the projector throw. Measure the room, measure the swing, then pick the line that fits. Our projector throw distance guide covers the measurement that most often goes wrong, and our enclosures page lists every per-size enclosure with its live price.