How to Bet on Golf Online
When it comes to sports that we all know and recognize today and take for granted as mainstays on the sports betting calendar, it is golf with the most interesting history.
With origins dating all the way back to the 13th century, golf hit its stride and began to look like the sport we play today in the 15th century in Scotland. In fact, it was so popular in Scotland at that time that James II made it illegal because his soldiers preferred playing golf over protecting the country from the English.
The game became formalized in the 1700s, with clubs forming in Scotland, London, and then South Carolina – the first such golf club formed outside of Great Britain. This was also when golf went from almost exclusively match play to stroke play, and handicapping was soon introduced.
Professionals began to play in the 1800s, making their money through private bets made by wealthy businessmen. And now you, wealthy businessman or not, can place wagers on golf tournaments taking place every week and from all around the world.
PGA Tour and International Golf Season Structure
It used to be a schedule that worked annually, with the reset coming in January when the PGA Tour made its Florida, Arizona, and California swings. The official season has since become late September through the following August/early September, ending with the FedEx Cup Playoffs and Championship.
The PGA sanctions 50 events over that season, with the average pro playing between 20 and 30 of them.
The four tournaments everyone wants to play are the four major championships – the Masters, PGA Championship, U.S. Open, and The Open Championship (British Open). The British Open is the oldest championship in golf, first played in 1860.
The European Tour sponsors 40 events each year that are played in Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia. The European Tour and PGA Tour also co-sponsor the Ryder Cup, the biennial event that pits a team of the best golfers from the United States against the best golfers from Europe.
There is also a very popular women’s tour, the LPGA, that hosts around 35 events each season, including five major golf championships. These are the ANA Inspiration, U.S. Women’s Open, Women’s PGA Championship, The Evian Championship, and the Women’s British Open.
Types of Golf Bets
This is the simplest and most common of all golf bets. It’s a simple pick of the 72-hole winner, paying out on pre-tournament odds. With so many golfers, weather variables, course-specific characteristics, and a whole lot of luck involved, it can be challenging to pick the actual winner. This is why even the betting favorites can pay as much as +1000 or more.
Not every bet has to be based on 72 holes and all four rounds of golf. You can bet on which golfer will have the lead after 18 holes. You can bet on the 36-hole leader or the golfer that will have the best second round, regardless of where he sits on the overall leaderboard. The same potential bets hold true for the third round and fourth round. All of them can be wagered.
As mentioned, and as is obvious from the odds you’ll be playing, picking the winner of the tournament is hard. However, it is considerably easier to bet on guys to finish in the top-five, top-10, top-20, or even higher. The better the golfer, the bigger range of finishing position, the lower the payout. Whereas the bigger the underdog, the smaller the range of finishing position, the better the payout.
Most PGA tournaments cut down the field of golfers after 36 holes, and the specific cutdown rules vary from tournament to tournament. But generally speaking, any golfer who finishes the first two rounds in the top-65 (or tied for 65th) will make the cut and tee off on Saturday for the third round. It’s a big deal to make or miss the cut, so naturally, you can bet on it.
Most sportsbooks allow you to bet on individual golfing matchups. Instead of worrying about how a golfer does against the entire field of golfers in the tournament, you can bet on how that golfer will do head-to-head against only one other golfer. Or two other golfers too. If you’re newer to the world of golf betting and only know a few of the many dozens of golfers in a tournament, this can be a great way to wager.
Like with other sports, you can find a number of fun and potentially profitable prop bets in golf. Will someone record a hole-in-one in this tournament? How old will the winner be? Will the tournament end at 72 holes, or will there be a playoff? And how long will that playoff last? Will the winner come from the final pairing? Will there be a wire-to-wire winner?
If it can be conceived, it can be wagered.
It’s hard to find futures betting on your average weekly tournament. But you can place wagers on all four of the major tournaments months before they are played. Other special events like the Ryder Cup and Summer Olympics can also be wagered in advance.
Golf doesn’t have the pace of other sports, so live betting isn’t quite as fast and furious. But when engaging in in-play wagering during a golf tournament, you can still place wagers on each hole, will there be a bridle or bogey, a par save from the sand, a dreaded three-putt, and so much more.
You can also place wagers on things like the tournament and round winner, or made or missed cuts, even after the tournament is underway.
Golf Betting Strategies
There isn’t a lot of money to be made by betting on heavy favorites. If someone is paying +500, the implied odds are that he has a 20% chance of winning. In reality, the odds are considerably lower, but all the money is going in his direction, so the odds are shorter. So be cautious about betting heavy favorites. It can make sense to do but pick and choose your timing.
Pay attention to lines that move over the course of a week. If someone climbs up the odds board, find out why. Figure out what has happened, or not happened, that is sending the betting public their way. The same should be true for when you see someone dropping down the board. Depending on the reason, that might be a golfer worth pursuing because of their increased value.
Research is important, but only if it’s the right research. Wins and losses and scores as they relate to par tell an incomplete story. Course history, recent play, and the new age of stats that include strokes gained are more valuable when deciding on which golfers to bet.
Know the courses. Each of them is different, and in some cases, the course can be as much or more important than the actual golfer. Tight fairways, long rough, wide, and soft greens, final round pin placement, deep bunkers. All of it matters, and all of it should dictate which style of play is best suited for that course.
Where to Bet on Golf
The PGA Tour is prominently featured by every online and mobile sports betting site you will use. But if you want to bet on the European Tour, the LPGA, or have a wide variety of bets inside each of the weekly tournaments, you’ll have to look around. Not all sports betting sites will meet the needs of the avid golf bettor, but some will. Just be patient in your search.
Generally speaking, the odds that you will play will be consistent from sportsbook to sportsbook. But you can always find small differences from book to book, so be sure to shop for the most favorable odds you can find. You’re ready to put money down on a golfer paying +1250. Don’t jump too quickly because it’s quite possible he’s paying +1350 somewhere else.
Another standard in the industry is the offering of risk-free bets and online deposit match bonuses. Everyone wants your business, and everyone is trying to lure you in with the promises of free cash. But not all free cash is equal, both in the amount offered and the ease of use.
If you are a casual bettor, chances are you won’t meet the wagering requirements to cash in that $1,000 deposit match bonus. But the $250 offer comes with easy to achieve play-through requirements, making it far better for you.
Sports Betting How To Guide
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