Burdie Golf rates Muni Golf the best free sim software he has tested

Muni Golf, the free simulator software that builds courses from real-world terrain data, gets a first-look review from the YouTube channel Burdie Golf in a video posted Friday, October 23. The host tested it on a ProTee VX launch monitor through ProTee's connector and came away with a split verdict. He called it "the best free software that I've seen on the market, hands down," but said he would still pay for ShotForge if course play is the main use.

What he liked

Muni Golf costs nothing. There's no subscription and no course pack to buy, according to the video. The practice menu includes a short game area, a driving range, a hole-in-one challenge and a practice green. A "drop ball at aim" tool and a draggable mini map let you move the ball anywhere on the hole to rehearse a shot.

Course play covers stroke play, match play, Stableford, skins and wolf, with settings for green speed, green firmness, wind, weather and altitude. The host loaded a course from his own county, set at 4,888 feet of elevation, and played two holes. He also pointed to online lobbies, tournaments with leaderboards, and closest-to-the-pin, long drive and ladder challenges.

His favorite piece was the second screen. It shows impact location, club path and face angle, shot history, a mini map, a heat map, and swing camera replay if you connect cameras. He said it could be worth running for the data display alone if your current software is weak there.

What held it back

Physics were the main complaint. Short wedges checked up late, the first hop looked too big, and a bunker shot didn't feel like it came out of sand. He called the overall feel "cartoonish" and compared it to Awesome Golf: fun, but short on realism. He described the graphics as "very video gamey" and said they can't match ShotForge, which runs on Unreal Engine. Putting aim is click-only, which he found annoying.

He priced ShotForge at about $60 a year or $7 a month from memory, and he mentioned a 25% viewer discount through his channel. He thinks ShotForge's graphics and physics are worth that money for regular course play.

What to do now

If you're between subscriptions or just want free reps, Muni Golf is worth a download, especially for the second-screen data. If realistic short-game and bunker physics matter for your practice, try it next to GSPro, PurePlay or ShotForge before you drop a paid platform. The host asked whether ads will show up later to pay for the free model, so watch for any change in Muni Golf's pricing.