There's a lot that goes into choosing a golf simulator. You need to pick where the launch monitor will sit, which model you want, the enclosure, the impact screen, the projector and more. And those purchases will set you back thousands of dollars — in my case, my golf simulator setup costs just under $10,000.

But with all those purchases, one of the cheaper things you'll buy might be the most important — the little hitting strip that goes into your mat. This is where you'll hit the ball, and the feel of different strip materials completely changes the way your club interacts with the turf.

I tested three different materials from Carl's Place to see which is right for me, and something I thought was a trivial detail of building my simulator ended up completely changing the way I practice and how well I hit my woods, irons and wedges.

The different types of hitting strips

There are three primary hitting strip materials, and each has its own benefits and drawbacks.

I asked Carl Markestad, Founder and President of Carl’s Place, about choosing a hitting strip. "When selecting the right hitting strip, [it's] one of the most critical and often overlooked parts of the simulator buying process," he said. "It’s important to think about the type of feel you want, whether that’s forgiveness, realism or something in the middle. You also need to consider who will be using it, because the right choice can make a real difference in joint comfort and how long someone can practice in a single session."

For Carl's Place models, which I used with the Carl's HotShot Golf Mat System, the most affordable is the Standard model at $79. It offers a mix of softness to help keep your joints from taking too much impact and firmness to properly punish chunked shots.

The next model is Foam, and it's all about providing more softness that won't punish your body on missed shots and chunks. The foam material is designed for longer practice sessions, playing around with family and inexperienced golfers and entertainment-focused setups. Anyone who's worried about overtraining. If you're dealing with injuries or other chronic conditions, you will benefit from this strip.

The foam mat costs quite a bit more than the Standard at $229. Of course, in the grand scheme of what you'll spend on a golf simulator, the extra money is pretty negligible.

Finally, we have the most expensive golf mat of the bunch, and it's the most realistic. It sells for $279, but it offers the benefit of a closer feel to real turf and will punish chunked shots, just like on the course.

The drawbacks here are that this realism does a number on your joints. It's also a bit less durable if you're known to chunk the ball often, since the gel material will wear out. At least, that's what Carl's Place says. I've been using mine daily for more than eight months, and it hasn't shown a bit of wear.

If you really need to work on consistent ball-first contact, this mat will suit your needs.

At the end of the day, personal preference is important. "There’s no one-size-fits-all when it comes to hitting strips, and that’s exactly why we developed multiple options. Some golfers want maximum forgiveness to save their joints, others want that true fairway interaction, and some prefer a more traditional, feedback-driven feel. Understanding those differences is key to getting the most out of your simulator," said Markestad.

Which leads me to the one I ultimately like best.

Which one am I choosing?

For me, the answer is a no-brainer: I love the gel mat, and it's helped me improve my ball striking faster than anything else in my golf simulator setup. I'm relatively young and healthy at 39, so the extra impact on the joints isn't a significant drawback for me at this time.

Will it be eventually? Almost certainly, but as someone who's only been golfing for around four years, the ability to closely simulate the real thing is priceless.

I do like the standard mat primarily because it's so affordable and feels relatively authentic.

For my needs, I don't like hitting off the foam mat. The idea that I'm making practice "easier" on my body at the expense of realism isn't for me, but I think it's incredible that the mat exists for those who need the extra softness on their joints.

Sure, it costs more, but for me, there's nothing better than practicing with conditions that feel as close to real as possible. And it really has translated to my on-course game. Between PathPal helping me fix my slice and the hitting strip improving my ball striking, I'll be well on my way to breaking 80 this year, and I couldn't be more excited about where my golf game is heading, even after taking it up so late in life.

More from Tom's Guide

• You haven't used a golf launch monitor until you've tried Foresight GC3 — here's my thoughts after 6 months of testing
• I replaced my TV with a 4K projector — and it was the best thing for my golf swing
• 'I noticed how much farther and straighter it was flying': PGA Tour pro Ben Griffin on playing a cheaper golf ball at The Masters

The Masters is one of the most exciting times of the year for golf fans. While we're all spending large sums on polos, gnomes, hats and other collectible goodies, the players in the tournament are preparing to compete. They're going through practice rounds, studying greens (especially the ones that have been redone since 2025's Masters), learning fairways, testing out the rough and giving themselves the best chance of success at August National.

I don't think I truly understood how much preparation goes into getting ready for The Masters until I sat down and chatted with Ben Griffin, the current 16th-ranked golfer on the OWGR list. While his comeback has been one for the ages, no golfer's story is complete until they play at Augusta National.

Sure, Ben Griffin and his unconventional Maxfli Tour X golf ball have picked up a few PGA Tour wins, but now comes his biggest test.

Why not use the same balls everyone else does?

There's no doubt that the most popular golf balls are the Titleist Pro V1 and Pro V1x. TaylorMade is right behind with its TP5 and TP5x.

But that didn't mean Ben Griffin was going to go with either of those balls if the numbers weren't the best. That's where his bond with Lexi Thompson and her family led him to Maxfli. And the results speak for themselves .

"I just noticed immediately how much farther and straighter it was flying off the tee," Ben Griffin said in an interview with Tom's Guide. "Not only am I going to hit maybe one more fairway, but I'm also going to have an average of six more yards."

For a PGA Tour player, reliably hitting one more fairway per round can be the difference between making the cut and not. After all, it's not just that you drive the ball farther — your next shot becomes easier. "That's the difference between a 9-iron and a pitching wedge. 8-iron and a 9-iron. Like that can make a big difference in a round."

And it's not as though Griffin didn't have reservations about using a $40 golf ball instead of $55 or $60 model like most players. As a tour pro, the price of the ball doesn't matter to him; he's not spending anything on them. But that didn't stop him from wondering, "Why are these balls as cheap as they are?"

"They aren't selling to wholesalers, pro shops, where they have to up the prices across the board," said Griffin. "What I learned is it's actually got just as much love and R&D and everything as these other brands, it's got all the tech in it."

Comeback kids

There are some obvious parallels between Maxfli's comeback story and Ben Griffin's own.

Griffin stepped away from golf to start a new career as a mortgage loan officer. "I didn't want anything to do with golf. So I tried to do something completely opposite," recounted Griffin on his time away from the game.

But golf found a way to creep back into life, "I played one round with a realtor trying to get business."

At the same time, Maxfli has come roaring back into golf with high-end tour balls and its own set of irons. On the crossover between his return to golf and Maxfli, Griffin said, "I felt like it resonated well with my brand as well, how I was kind of giving it a run in professional golf, took a step back, and now here we are again."

"I love sharing my story about Maxfli, and it's an easy story to share, and for people to go out and buy because it's one of the most affordable golf balls," said Griffin on his choice to use Maxfli's golf balls. "I felt like for me it was a unique opportunity to kind of be the one guy on tour to help bring this back because I just brought back my career."

And now it's time for The Masters

All of that brings Ben Griffin to one of the most exciting moments for any pro golfer: their first trip to The Masters, golf's most prestigious tournament.

Just as he approaches finding the right golf ball for his game, Griffin is meticulous in his preparation, not leaving his shot at success at Augusta to chance.

"I played three rounds between this off-season and earlier this week out there. Took a ton of notes. I played 18 [holes], and then I went around and probably spent like 20 minutes per green just like mapping it out," said Griffin on how he's getting ready for the biggest tournament of his career. "You can trust your caddy with certain things, but you're hitting the putt."

When I asked why he's doing the green mapping himself and not relying on his caddy, he said, "My caddy would probably do it as well, but nothing beats your own eyes when it comes down to it."

And it's not just greens, Griffin is looking over every detail, even the sometimes tricky Augusta yardage books, which he says have "about as little detail as possible." He elaborated, "They're meant for you to go out and take your own notes and figure out the course."

Maybe it's to keep some of the course's intrigue intact rather than putting every detail in a yardage book.

And playing Augusta doesn't always lead to a huge advantage. According to Griffin, the course will "regrass three greens a year, and they pick three different greens every single year. Except this past year, they did 16 again because they didn't like the brakes because they had to redesign it because the tree fell on it during that storm."

So that's three new greens, including one that was just redone last year, which will certainly impact players who've been to the Masters several times. "11, 14, and 16 are all new greens, so they're going to be a little bit firmer than the rest," noted Griffin. "It's Augusta trying to mess with you."

More from Tom's Guide

• I replaced my TV with a 4K projector — and it was the best thing for my golf swing
• I built the ultimate golf simulator in my home for under $10K — here's the products I used
• You haven't used a golf launch monitor until you've tried Foresight GC3 — here's my thoughts after 6 months of testing