Golf is now one of the most popular sports in the world, and it is a good sport for punters to bet on. Why is this the case? Well, one reason is that there are many top golfing events that take place regularly, which means that there will usually always be some kind of tournament that you can bet on. Another reason for its popularity is that there are many markets to bet on, which keeps the entertainment levels high. If you would like to start betting on the golf, then you can do yourself a favour and read our guide because we will tell you all that you need to know about placing bets on this sport.
The Most Popular Golf Betting Markets
All golf betting sites have plenty of betting markets that we can put our money on when it comes to making a golf bet. There are some that are more popular than others, and this is what we are going to be paying attention to in this section of our guide.
Outright Winner
This is a straightforward enough wager where you are betting on the player that you think will go on to win the whole event. If your chosen player lifts the title, you win a profit, but if they do not, you lose your stake. It really cannot get any easier than that. When compared to other sports such as rugby, the odds on offer for an outright winner in golf are often much higher due to the fact that more than 100 players usually take part in the big competitions. Talking about rugby, if you are also interested in betting on rugby, then check out our TalkRugbyUnion page.
Betting on the Cut
In the big golf events, due to the number of players that take part, there will be a cut that happens after two days of play that gets rid of the lower half of the field to decrease the number that can challenge for the title. Those who are allowed to carry on playing in the event are said to have “made the cut”, while those who get eliminate have “missed the cut”. In golf, you can put cash on whether a particular player will end up making the cut or not.
The Top Nationality
With the majority of top golf events, the top sports betting sites will offer a market where you can put money on the top player from the competing nations. For example, if there are seven Australians playing, and you want to bet on Adam Scott being the best player out of the lot, then all that needs to happen in order for you to win this kind of wager is for him to out do his fellow Aussies. It does not matter if he finishes seventh last, so long as the six players under him are the other six competing Australians.
Hole-In-One
Even if you are not a huge fan of golf, we are quite sure that you understand what a hole-in-one is. If, you do not, then it is simply when the golfer manages to land the ball in the hole straight from the tee. As you can imagine, landing such a shot is not easy feat, but this does not mean that you cannot place a bet on it occurring at a competition. With this market, you do not have to predict the player that will make the hole-in-one since this would be practically impossible - you just need to predict whether there will be one, and you will land a nice profit if there is.
Golf Betting Tips
So, now that you know the most popular markets for betting on golf, we are going to now provide you with some top golf betting advice that can improve your odds of winning. When you are betting, no matter the sport, it is always better to use tips and strategies than relying on Lady Luck. Also, please keep in mind that these tips, while useful, and not a sure-fire way for you to make a lot of money from golf betting.
Look at Player Form
A top golf betting system is to assess the form of the players that you are thinking about placing a bet on. They might be top players, but every professional sportsman goes through a dip in form, and it is not worth betting on them when they do. We recommend that you look at their positions in recent events, and forget about putting any money on a player that has sat of the action for a period of time. It will always take a while for someone to get back into the swing of things, no matter how good they are.
Check Out the Stats
You should take the time to look at recent and season-long stats since this is something that can end up giving you the edge over the sportsbook that you have an account with. You should have a look at a player’s putting accuracy because of they struggle to putt, then you can bet your bottom dollar that they will not win any big golf events.
Check Out the Course
Many of the PGA and European Tour courses are the same each year, which is something that makes it easier to see if a player has a dislike or like for a particular golf course. You might think that a golf course is a golf course, but that is a novice mistake to make. Some golf courses will require a lot more accuracy off the tee, while others are much wider, so accuracy from the tee is not that important. In such a scenario, long hitters will hold an advantage over the shorter hitters.
Listen to Podcasts
Before you go ahead and place any type of golf bet, you need to do your homework first. We recommend that you listen to some podcasts from golf tipsters that definitely know what they are speaking about. Some that we suggest you have a closer look at include No Laying Up, The Rick Shiels Golf Show, and Get a Grip with Shane Bacon. You can get some great bits of advice from these guys .as they are extremely knowledgeable on all things golf.
Pay Attention to the Weather
The weather can completely change how a tournament of golf plays out. If there are strong winds, the players will be forced to lean on accuracy and shorten their drives, while wet greens and fairways will make the course play much slower. Therefore, before you go ahead and place any bets on any golf market, make sure that you have a look at a detailed forecast for the whole of the tournament. By doing this, you can measure whether the weather will hurt a player based on the skills and look at whether a player will be less used to playing in such conditions based on the country that they are from.
Also, depending on the start times, golfers can face different degrees of weather throughout the day. A player that is scheduled to go and play in the early morning might face a slower and softer course that a player who gets to play later on in the day when the heat and sun have dried out the course, making it play faster.
The Best Betting Sites for Golf
Now that you know about the different markets that are on offer and some top golf betting tips to keep in mind when you are betting, we are now going to take a look at three of the Best UK Betting Sites. All bookmakers worth their salt will have golf odds and markets, but some are better than others, and we feel that the following three bookies are some of the best around. So, let’s drive right on in.
William Hill
When it comes to their variety of golf events, their in-play betting platform, the variety of golf betting markets, and their each-way betting terms is what helps William Hill to lead the way. Pick a golf event, any event, and you will find a number of markets and top odds for it here. For instance, when the Ryder Cup is being played, you will find no fewer than 40 markets for it at this sports betting site.
To welcome you to their sportsbook, they offer a really good Welcome Bonus where if you wager £10 on any event, you will receive two free bets which are worth £15 each. These free bets can be used on any sporting event that you feel like, whether it is baseball, soccer, MMA, basketball, but we would suggest that you use them on the next golf event since there will be some quality odds for you to take advantage of.
Bwin
When you are betting, no matter the sport, it is important that you do so with the best odds around as this is how you make sure that you get the best bang for your buck when you land some winning wagers. Novice bettors will think that the odds available are the same at each sports betting site, but experienced bettors will know that this is not actually the case. While many of the top bookies will offer their punters very competitive odds for the sports that they have available, Bwin offers some of the best odds on the market.
In addition to their very competitive odds, they also offer a nice range of golf markets for all of the big golfing events. To top it off, they have plenty of top banking methods, provide very solid mobile gambling options, and have a really good customer care team that will sort out any issues for you as soon as they can.
PaddyPower
When it comes down to each-way terms, there is usually a lot more variation in golf than with other sports. The common each-way terms for a golf event with most bookmakers will be four places with odds of 1⁄4, but there are some bookies that will pay out for the top seven or eight places with 1⁄5 odds. There are some sports betting sites that lead the way when it comes to offering generous place terms for golf, and PaddyPower is one of them since they often offer eight places with odds of 1⁄5 for PGA Tour tournaments.
You will also not be let down by the odds and market variety that they are offering, while their payment options, live betting platform, mobile gambling options, and customer support team are as good as any other bookmaker around.
N.B. Above we mentioned sports such as baseball and MMA, and if you would like to find out more about betting on either of these, then feel free to check out our TalkKungFu page as well as our TalkBaseball page.
Always Gamble Responsibly
We would like to finish off our guide by reminding you o the importance of gambling responsibly. We suggest that you set yourself a budget and stick to it no matter what. We know that it is very tempting to try and recuperate the losses that you have accrued, but this really is not a wise move since, more often than not, you will end up losing even more money. However, the big difference here is the fact that this will be money which you cannot really afford to be losing. You do not want to put yourself in a gambling debt as it can be very hard to get out of that bunker.