Golf Betting Advice

Golf is the perfect sport for making a bet. An almost year-round schedule of tournaments played over 4 days, provides excellent opportunities for research and preparation, and time to adjust and hedge your bets in play once the action begins. 

This Golf Betting Guide aims to inform you of every aspect to consider and teach you how to bet on Golf

Golf Betting Guide Contents

The golf betting advice you will find on this page is comprehensive so scrolling down to find the section you want could be a task. 

Feel free to find what you are looking for in the list below. 

• Golf Betting for Beginners
• Betting on Golf Explained
• Types of Golf Events to Bet on
• Types of Golf Bets
• In-Play Golf Betting
• Golf Betting Odds Explained
• Where to bet on Golf
• Golf tips and tipsters

Golf Betting for Beginners

If you have never placed a bet on golf before but are looking for some information and guidance as to the best practice of where to bet you will find a wealth of information in this golf betting guide.

The main thing to consider is to keep things very simple to begin with as you become used to the process of finding the right markets, how they are settled and what to expect in the event of a win, loss, or dead heat result.

Knowing all possible outcomes of your potential bet before you make it will not leave you in a position where you think you should have won more than you got back, or indeed, leave you thinking your bet has won, when in fact, it hasn't.

On OLBG we have a comprehensive review of all the best golf betting sites so you can quickly select the best bookmaker for your golf bets. 

Betting on Golf Explained

Golf is one of the most popular sports in the world. With an international professional player base, international event venues, and worldwide fan base, there are few sports that can boast it's international appeal for both players and fans alike.

This makes betting on golf also one of the most gambled on sports. betting opportunities abound with potentially hundreds of different types of bets you can make. All bets are offered by bookmakers looking to make a profit from you choosing losing bets.

This guide, is going to explain the best way to approach your gold betting and to attempt to put the odds in your favour by providing valuable information on how to start betting on golf for beginners, and how to home your golf betting sections skills for those who would like to take golf betting to the next level and perhaps make a regular profit from it.

How to Bet on Golf

At the most basic form, betting on golf involves making a prediction on the outcome of a particular betting market on golf where odds are provided by a bookmaker.

You make a prediction [selection] based on your opinion, decide how much you would like to risk [stake], and make the deal [place a bet], with the bookmaker. 

The golf event runs it's course, and the result of the specific market you have bet on is confirmed.

If your prediction was correct, you get paid, the value of your stake, multiplied by the odds taken - This is your return which includes your profit + stake

If your prediction was incorrect, your bet is lost, the bookmaker retains the stake and nothing is returned.

How to Bet Successfully on Golf**

There is a difference between betting on golf and doing so with a modicum of success.

Success may not be consistently winning. It is very hard to make a profit in any aspect of gambling, but narrowing your chances for a loss, can be deemed by many to be a level of success.

The enjoyment of gambling on golf is not so much determined by the number of wins you have, but the fewer number of times you lose.

This golf betting advice is going to help you reduce the number of losing bets on golf you make and with any luck increase the number of wins.

In doing so, your strike rate may improve and if you can manage that at sufficient odds, in the long run, you may just find you can make a profit.

**Disclaimer: This guide aims to help you understand the processor gambling on golf better, what to look for and what to avoid. This guide does not guarantee profits when betting on golf. As with any form of gambling, you should only ever gamble what you can comfortably afford to lose as part of you personal budget. if you feel you have a gambling problem, then there is help available from BeGambleAware

Learn as much as you can about Golf

It goes without saying that the more you know about the sport, the better informed you will be to make decisions on your gambling. Golf can provide an almost year-round and global opportunity for making bets, so it is also advisable to try to niche down and specialise in an individual area of golf betting.

That could be a specific number of players, specific courses you have learned everything about

Combining the knowledge of specific players and courses puts you in a prime position to know when the time is right to make a bet, and when best to avoid one. This would be one of the best ways of finding a value bet in golf. 

Primed and armed with more knowledge than other punters, and if possible, the golf betting odds setters, you will instantly be in a better position to choose your golf bets than you were before you learned this information.

Use Statistics

Statistics can be very helpful in identifying trends and opportunities to consider in your golf betting.

There are a host of places you can find golf statistics, some better than others it has to be said.

OLBG member STEVOCN wrote a guide to the 5 most useful sites for Golf betting, including tips, stats research, and odds.

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The 5 Most Useful Sites for Golf Betting (Tips, Stats, Research, Odds)

If you want to learn more about how to bet on golf or find opinions from more golf betting experts, then the blogs on OLBG are a great resource.

Specialise

One way of betting on golf and improving your ability to make good predictions is to specialise in a specific area of the game. Let's start with the most important aspect and those that can make or break your golf bets.

Players will have spells of good form and bad. We need not speculate on the reasons for these dips and peaks, but we should be aware of when they happen, especially if there is an annual tendency for the form line to repeat.

There is a golf blogger called hornygoat who has explained that predicting a winner from 150 players at a tournament is almost an impossibility to achieve on a regular basis. Considering form in golf betting is essential in whittling down the competitors to a group for further consideration for placing bets.

Understand The Players

Some professional golf punters only follow and bet on a certain stable of players. They only make bets when the players are in form or will be playing in conditions that past performances and statistics suggest they suit them. In this way, they can find value odds that may be higher than the punter's opinion of the real probability of winning a bet.

Consider narrowing down a stable of players to learn everything about, starting with one of these possible options 

• Players who always play best at the beginning or end of the season
• Players who are adept at certain weather conditions
• Only players who have won a tour event in the past 24 months
• Top Ten longest Drivers
• Top Ten Green in Regulation

Not only does building only a stable of players that fit certain criteria make it easier for you to assess their chance is a specific tournament and conditions, but it will also narrow down the myriad of possible bets that you have to consider.

One aspect of being a successful golf punter is being able to be selective with your predictions and only make bets when you feel the odds are in your favour.

By understanding the strengths and weaknesses of each of your players, you have an ideal opportunity to identify when their chance is best based on the event you are considering.

Player Statistics

There are a whole host of websites available for finding out golf players' statistics across a range of variables. It is a little bit like horse racing form, where you can check back not only on how a player has performed in the most recent tournament but also, how they have performed under things like

• Course
• Country
• Course Type
• Tournament Status
• Course Conditions
• Weather Conditions
• Time of year

Player Form

Players can go in and out of form at any time, so being able to understand when that is most likely to happen will help you make a decision on whether you should bet on that player to win, or against them with another player.

Finding players who can maintain form for periods of time throughout the year is a good approach. As is finding consistent players whose form doesn't fluctuate very much on a year to year basis. 

What is a choker in golf?

A choker in golf is a player who has a clear lead coming to the final round, to worse the final few holes and plays poorly to the finish. Dropping shots where they would not normally, or letting the pressure of the final moments get to them.

I'll not name names, but by checking statistics you will find a whole host of players that have a record of choking and giving away what looked a likely victory.

Knowing the chokers when betting in-play on golf can be advantageous as you may be able to bet against them, and choose an alternative player who has a history of finishing a tournament in a consistently strong fashion. They may be overpriced given the lead they are giving away going into the final round, or final back nine and value may be had off the back of knowing the leader has a history of choking.

Understand the Courses

• Course Statistics
• Course Form
• Statistics - Which ones to mean something?

Types of Golf Events to bet on

Understanding how golf tournaments work and when you can bet on them, including tournament schedule, cut, stats, etc

Tips for the majors will be available as soon as the confirmed players are announced. 

Betting on The Majors

There are four Major tournaments across the golfing calendar that are played every year and we'll explain how each one works and how best to bet on them. 

The four Majors are called 

• The Masters 
• The PGA Championship 
• The US Open 
• The Open Championship

Masters

The Masters is the only Golf Major that is played at the same venue every year, so looking at the previous record of players at Augusta National is the perfect place to start. 

With Augusta's course proving tricky, the tournament can regularly throw up big odds winners including 100/1 Charl Schwartzel in 2011 and 2009 winner Angel Cabrera at 125/1. 

There have only ever been three debut winners at the famous course, so rookies tend to be avoided when it comes to betting on The Masters, but players with multiple top 10 or top 25 placements on the course can be looked at. 

ALSO READ

US Masters Golf Betting Tips Guide

PGA Championship

The PGA Championship can be one of the most lucrative tournaments to win for a player's career, with each winner of the Championship automatically invited to the other three majors for the next five years, plus a lifetime invitation to the PGA Championship. 

The last five winners of the PGA Championship have been American, with the different courses across the USA that it's played at helping that. 

There will be tips for the PGA Championship by many profitable tipsters on OLBG here. 

ALSO READ

PGA Championship Betting Tips Guide

US Open

All of the majors are fantastic events but there is something about the US on that really gets the juices flowing. I mean, it's not The Open it's the American version, but it is still worth a watch and a bet as long as you've got this in your favour and good odds.

Is there a specific type of player that wins the US Open - we looked at the info on previous US Open winners to see if there is any correlation and if we can narrow down the field, so to speak, to find a group from which the winner may come.

ALSO READ

US Open Golf Betting Preview & Trends

The Open Championship

The Open Championship is the only golf major that is held outside of the USA every year, with the tournament often referred to as the British Open by pundits and fans alike. 

We looked further into the previous years of the Open, highlighting the last 10 winners of the tournament and showing what score won them the Open.

 You can take a look at that further on our Open Championship tips page.

ALSO READ

Open Championship Betting Tips Guide

Understand the Tours

PGA Tour

The PGA tour is the main organiser of the competitions and most of the events that are played on a year-by-year basis in the USA.  

Tipping is up on our site for the money-list, which gives odds on which golfer will top the most money earned on the PGA Tour by the end of the season. You can check out tips by our members on this market here.  

European Tour

The European Tour is pretty much identical to the PGA Tour, but instead of operating for the USA it is for the European tournaments.

Founded in 1972, the PGA European Tour is set to make it's 50 year anniversary in 2022, with the European Tour essentially more of a world tour as they aren't stuck in having their events in just one country like the PGA Tour is.

Betting on the Ryder Cup

One of the highlights of the golf calendar so long as you are either American or European is the Ryder Cup. Although not an annual event [it is bi-annual] the Ryder Cup is a highlight of many punters golf betting year given its a unique format.

The Ryder Cup tends to throw up an influx of bettors, with more people getting involved with Ryder Cup betting than normal tournaments.

You can see Ryder Cup Tips on our site, with profitable tipsters making their selections here. 

ALSO READ

Ryder Cup Preview & Betting Tips Guide

Types of Golf Bets

There are many more markets you can bet on in golf than the list below, however, if you want to become a great golf bettor, these are the recommended markets you should stick with. Please find below the list and more information on how each of them works.

Golf Betting Markets Explained

There may be a huge temptation in discovering there is a huge range of betting markets available to choose from when betting on golf.

Just like players and courses, you will be better placed to follow only a few markets and specialise in them rather than have a scatter-gun approach on markets that take your fancy from tournament to tournament.

Tournament Winner

The most simple golf betting market available where you simply have to name the winner of the tournament. In the event of a tie after 72 holes a playoff will decide the outright winner.

There will be the option to bet on a 72 hole winner, but this will not include the playoff and could result in a tie and your stake divided by the number of players filling the #1 position at the end of the 72 holes.

Top 5/10/20 Betting

Another option is to bet on a player to finish in various positions in the final leaderboard as per the suggestions above. here you would be betting on a player to be in the top 5, top 10, or even top 20 on the leaderboard when the tournament has completed.

Again dead heat rules can apply here, and often you may have to have your stake divided by more than just 2 or 3 players. bear this in mind when making this type of bet on golf.

First Round Leader

With tournaments lasting four days, some punters betting on golf like to have bets that will complete in less time. 

One of the best bets for that purpose is betting only on the first round which will complete on day 1. 

Here you are not looking to find the overall winner over 72 holes

Many olbg members focus on the first-round leader markets in golf. 

Betting Markets to Avoid

These betting markets are not to be completely discounted, but if you are only just beginning to bet on golf then they can be dismissed until you find your level and want to explore other golf betting opportunities

Each Way Betting

Each-way betting is not a complete no go in Golf but a full understanding of when it can work for you and work against you is helpful in making each way betting choices. Often we can find several players finding one of the places on tied scores which can extend the places and therefore reduce to final odds of the fraction you are being paid to almost make the bet worthless.

In the main for outright winner markets, you may better be served to play win only across a range of players in the outright market, or the stake you would have placed on the place part being added to your outright win bet for double the returns if they win outright.

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Most Watched Golf Shots

Top Nationality

A fiercely difficult market to find a winner in, and often the odds are much shorter on the favourite players than can offer you a value bet. That is not to say taking a punt on a player at much larger odds to spring a surprise is not discounted, but it is all relative and often offers you as the punter little value in the long term.

If however, you are employing the advice to specialise in players and courses and find a player that looks like everything is falling into place and seems to be totally discounted by the odds in this market then you could have a strong case to make a  wager. 

Hole in One

More common than you think in a four day tournament, obviously it depends on the course layout to how many holes in one are achieved. 

Ante Post Betting Markets

Ante-Post betting is betting at least 24 hours prior to an event starting date. In some cases when making a long term prediction, perhaps on a major event, you can get better odds than you would 24 hours before it starts, but in golf, this is rarely the case.

If you have bet a player in this market and they do not take part, you lose your entire stake

In-Play Betting on Golf

Golf is almost tailor-made for in-play betting. With most tournaments running from Thursday through Sunday, betting is available on a vast range of markets throughout the four days up to and including the final hole, and if applicable, the playoff too.

In Running Golf Betting

In running betting on golf tournaments is available with most bookmakers these days as well as exchanges. You may wish to see how some players start before backing them and this allows you to do exactly that. Of course, the better a player starts the more his odds will have decreased since the pre tournament betting stage but it may mean far fewer stakes are wasted backing no hopers.

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Top In-Play Betting Sites in the UK for 2024: A Guide to the Best Live-Betting Bookmakers

It also allows punters to lay players that may have become artificially short prices. Players who normally start well may be trading lower than they should be considering their tendency to fade as the tournament goes on and players who have started well but don't normally perform well in tournaments have probably just had things go their way so far. Both types of player are likely to end up performing much worse than their early tournament odds indicated, making them both value lays.

Laying Off

The exchanges also allow punters to lay off bets they have already placed. It may be a case that you have backed a 100/1 shot who is now trading at 10/1 and you want to either cover your stake by laying the player slightly or lock in a bit of profit. 

The lower the odds have tumbled to, the more profit you will be able to guarantee yourself by laying off. 

However this means you will win far less than you would have originally if you had stuck to your bet.

The best way to manage in running betting if you are looking to exit the action with a profit or trying to minimize a loss, is don't use Cash out. 

There are better options when making your exit bets on a betting exchange

Betting on Golf on the Exchanges like Betfair

Despite the fact some golfers appear to be quite dominant in the sport many tournaments often throw up big priced winners. This is suited to exchange betting as the bigger the odds of something, the bigger percentage of odds increase you are likely to find on the exchanges when compared to the odds at traditional bookmakers. You won't find picking winners any easier by backing on the exchanges, but by picking the winner you can often win a lot more if it is an unfancied winner.

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How to Effectively Use a Betting Exchange: The Ultimate Guide

The big priced winners are not always massive shocks (they are usually in the top 30 in the money list for that season) but because of the competitive nature of the sport most runners will be big prices (certainly offering each way value at least).

In the markets such as to make the cut or 3 ball betting there can often be value gained in laying short prices. Of course a random laying of all short prices is not recommended but opposing slow starters or any players who seem very underpriced should be profitable in the long run.

Golf Betting Odds Explained

How do you know if a golf bet is 'value'?

Value betting can play a major part in golf markets and it's key that you know exactly how to find value on a bet. Our value betting blog helps look at what value betting is, saying:

Further reading of the blog looks into probability and odds when it comes to value, which you can read here. 

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Master the Art of Value Betting and Maximize Your Winnings

How to bet Each way on golf?

With there only being one winner in a golf tournament, each way betting can prove to be popular when it comes to golf betting. Often big value odds are offered on each individual, meaning if you bet on them e/w you only have to have them finish in the places to get some money back. 

Some bookmakers will offer enhanced places when it comes to each way betting on big tournaments, so it's always good to keep an eye out on the OLBG free bets and promotions page when a major is coming up.  

What happens with a tie in Golf betting?

When it comes to betting each way on golf, ties can be a common occurrence with there being so many competitors that can finish on the same score. If this is the case, dead heat odds are usually offered on those places. 

The winner of the competition can't be tied, as there will be a play-off to decide who the winner will be. 

Where to bet on Golf [Bookmakers]

When betting on golf it is very likely that you will be doing so online, either on your computer or laptop at home or on your mobile phone on a betting app.

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You will want to ensure you are betting with the online bookmaker that has the best options for the type of bet you are looking to make. They may have some free bets available for the bigger events too.

If you don't already have an online bookmaker account I would suggest reading some bookie reviews first. 

Written by industry professionals who know what makes a good bookmaker or a bad one, they also have reviews from OLBG members too, offering their user experience. William Hill are carefully considered to be a good choice for golf betting.

This could be the one with the biggest range of events or betting markets or those that offer good odds in the ante-post markets well ahead of the majors or bigger tour events

Remember to make sure you also do research into the best online bookmakers for betting on golf  it could make all the difference!

Golf Spread Betting Markets

The range of spread betting markets on golf have expanded in recent years. During the majors there are some great value opportunities to buy and sell players on the tournament leaderboard index.

Tournament Index

This is like outright betting but the spread betting equivalent. Points are assigned to the first eight finishing positions with more points assigned for a better finish. 

Each player is quoted with a spread of points they are expected to get. The advantage this has over traditional outright betting is that more places are rewarded and the more your choice outperforms expectations the more you will win. 

Of course it works the other way and the more your selection underperforms the more you will lose.

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Best Sports Spread Betting Sites

Example

You back a player on Spreadex or Sporting Index who quote a spread on how players will perform in the tournament. 

The market is priced:

• 1st 80 points
• 2nd 40 points
• 3rd 30 points
• 4th 25 points
• 5th 20 points
• 6th 14 points
• 7th 10 points
• 8th 5 points

You back a player whose spread is 45-48 points (Buy at 48) He wins the tournament and earns a final make up of 80 points. You win your unit stake multiplied by 32 points (80-48).

Golf Betting Tips and Tipsters

While honing your skills in golf betting you could also build a portfolio of golf betting tipsters from OLBG. 

With proven profitability and consistency, each golf tipster's records can be checked, although we show only those with the best tipping records anyway.

You'll see which golf betting selections they are making, supported with comments and reasoning as to why. 

What are the 5 biggest mistakes you can make betting on golf

1. Betting big names and favourites blind
2. Not knowing the course characteristics
3. Ignoring the weather conditions
4. Betting at the wrong odds
5. Betting with the wrong bookmaker

Further Reading

OLBG has thousands of sports betting experts, many specialising in betting on golf. Throughout this guide, I have used their expertise to build this resource with quotes and links.

 Below is a condensed list of further reading if you would like to explore individual sections of information all based around making your betting on golf better.

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A Guide To Golf Betting & What To Look For

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Ryder Cup - Betting Statistics & History For Winning Bets

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What type of player wins the US Open (Golf)

Golf betting glossary

European Order of Merit

This market is for which golfer earns the most European Tour prize money by the end of the golfing season. Expect to have your money tied up for up to a year with this market so choose your bets wisely and only bet if you are in a financially liquid situation.

Group Betting

Betting on which of a group of usually five players will perform best during a tournament. A useful market if you fancy an outsider to perform above his odds but not win or even place in the tournament itself.

To Make The Cut

Some bookmakers allow punters to be on which players will make the cut. The odds are usually very restrictive for the more fancied players which sometimes makes it more of a layers market.

To Place or Top 5 Finish

Some bookmakers offer place only betting. You won't receive the same odds as you would if backing each way but there is the added incentive you won't lose your win money on a selection that isn't likely to win because you have only backed him to place. Shop around between the bookmakers and the exchanges as prices can often vary greatly.

3 Ball Betting

Betting on who will win the individual matchups on each round of play. This can be particularly profitable if you are predicting quick or slow starting players

US PGA Money List

This market is for which golfer tops the US PGA Money List at the end of the golfing season. Like the European Tour Order of Merit market, you should expect to have your money tied up for up to a year with this market so again choose your bets wisely and only bet if you are in a financially liquid situation.

FAQ

Responsible Gambling

You should always gamble responsibly, and never spend more than you can afford. 

Golf betting markets are volatile and prices will fluctuate.

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Responsible Gambling Features, Function and Help

Author

James Banting one of the OLBG Betting Experts was the author of this guide to golf. As you can see by his biography James is always looking for golf value especially during the majors. 

Another of our experts Nigel Skinner formatted and fact checked the guide.