
If you’ve avoided betting on golf, thinking it’s a bit lacklustre, you’re not alone. I used to believe that too. While golf is not as fast-paced as basketball or football, the sport is far from uninteresting, especially in the tournament’s later stages.
Even more impressive is the fact that there are plenty of betting opportunities you can take advantage when betting on golf. In this article, I will talk about the unique aspects of golf betting, how and why you should bet on it, popular betting markets, and the strategies you can apply to find value for the risk you are taking.
If you’ve been itching at the thought of betting on golf, then this is the sign that you should sign up at leading golf betting sites and give it a shot. But before you do, here are several pros and cons of golf betting online you ought to know to ensure an enjoyable betting experience.
Betting on golf offers unique advantages that sets it apart from other sports. In this section, I will talk about the key advantages of golf betting and why you should try betting on golf right now.
As many of you know, the first thing I look at when betting is value, and frankly, it becomes even more challenging, especially at MMA betting sites in Canada where there is plenty of line movement. Gone are the days when MMA was a niche sport with the surge of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. However, that isn’t the case when it comes to golf betting.
Although golf as a sport is widely known, the betting market is still niche because of the lack of mainstream engagement or perhaps the limited global appeal – you can take your pick. With few casual bettors taking part, you can find value betting angles since there is market volatility and less competition for limited opportunities.
Plus, golf tournaments have large fields often consisting of 100-plus players, which means that you can even net top golfers like Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, and Collin Morikawa at plus money. If you’re sharp, you can even find betting angles for underrated golfers such as Canada’s Corey Conners and Nick Taylor and get juicier odds.
As mentioned, golf is not as up-tempo as basketball or football. But if you look at it from a different point of view, you can use the slow pace of golf to your advantage. Since golf has a much slower tempo, the betting odds are not as volatile as basketball, football or cricket, as you see on cricket betting sites in Canada. This gives you less exposure to sharp money movements and reduces the psychological pressure to make an immediate decision.
Depending on the organizer or the weather, for that matter, golf tournaments usually last for three to four days. This is the exact opposite for football betting, where you’ll have to make a decision since your bet will be settled in the next couple of hours unless, of course, you are wagering on a futures betting market at top football betting sites in Canada or elsewhere.
With golf’s slower pace, you’ll have more time to analyze trends and how players are performing. While I place bets before a tournament starts, I always observe a player’s form over multiple holes and find out how they handle certain course conditions to see whether there’s a possible bet I can take. Since golf isn’t as emotionally driven as basketball or football, you can make calculated wagers without being swayed by crowd reactions or momentum swings.
One of the biggest reasons why I did not start golf betting until lately was because of the belief that there’s not much to it. As a matter of fact, I used to believe that the Outright Winner is the only betting market available in golf tournaments. As I know by now, that is far from the truth. Although the outright winner market is perhaps the most popular and straightforward bet, there are plenty of betting markets you can take advantage of when golf betting.
The each-way betting market is arguably one of my favorite golf betting markets simply because it provides a safety net, especially for underdogs and long-shot bets. This is because you can still make a profit even if your player loses outright, since you’ll only need them to place within the top five or top 10 for your betting selection to pay out.
Other than the each-way bet, you can also opt to bet on head-to-head matchups, group winners, and even wager on round-specific bets such as First Round Leader, Lowest Round Score, and Wire-to-Wire Winner. With so many betting markets available, you can find value odds or mispriced lines that can give you an edge over the bookmaker. If that’s not good enough, it also provides you with arbitrage betting opportunities where you can guarantee profit regardless of the tournament’s overall outcome.
As I mentioned in the previous section, there are numerous golf betting markets. In this section, I will expand on them even further and list the most popular golf betting markets at top Canadian betting sites.
🎮 Betting Market | 🎯 Description |
Outright winner | Betting on a golfer who will win the entire tournament |
Each way | A two-way bet where half goes on the chosen golfer to win and the other half on them finishing within the top 5 or 10 places |
Head-to-Head matchup | Betting on which two golfers will finish higher in the tournament |
The outright winner is the most straightforward golf betting market available. It’s simply picking the golfer to win the tournament. Since golf tournaments feature large fields, you can often find outright winner odds at plus money, even for the favorites. While the rewards of picking the outright winner are enormous, I usually avoid picking an outright winner because of its high variance and unpredictability, although you can find some solid angles in this market if you know how to pick your spots.
Each-way is a bet that is made up of two separate wagers, where half goes on your chosen golfer to win the tournament and the rest on them finishing within a set number of places, usually top five, top eight, or even top ten, depending on your sportsbook. More often than not, the bet pays out at a fraction of the outright odds, commonly ¼ or ⅕. For example, you bet a total of $200 each way on Canadian golfer Corey Conners – $100 for Conners to win the tournament at +2000 and another $100 for him to place in the top five at +500.
Scenario: Conners wins the tournament
Scenario: Conners places in the top five
Head-to-head matchups are another golf betting market where you can find great value. This is a bet where you pick one golfer to have a better performance than another over a round or the entire tournament. Rather than betting on a player to win outright, you’re only backing them to outperform a specific opponent. What I love about this market is the fact that you can zero in on two players and assess their strengths, weaknesses, and past performances rather than the entire 100-plus playing field.
Like hockey betting in Canada, getting started with golf betting doesn’t take a whole lot of time or effort either. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how you can bet on your favorite golfers, such as Corey Conners, Adam Hadwin, and Taylor Pendrith for the upcoming Masters Tournament in Augusta, Georgia.
Considering the nature and unpredictability of the sport, you can almost always get favorites at plus money odds when golf betting. However, plus money doesn’t always equate to value bets. Here are several strategies you can apply to get the most value when betting on golf.
Live betting is perhaps one of the best ways to find value in golf. Although it’s a slow-paced sport, golf has plenty of momentum swings, and the best part is bookmakers often take a few minutes to adjust since it’s not as popular as basketball or football.
For example, Canadian golfer Nick Taylor goes birdie-birdie on the 12th and 13th holes, and you see that his odds are not moving as much as you’d thought. If Taylor has an easy par-5 coming up, then betting on him to continue the run can be a good play before the books adjust.
Since I’ve started betting on golf, I’ve found plenty of value betting on the each-way market. The thing with golf is anything from the course to the weather can impact a player’s performance. At the right conditions, a mid-tier golfer at high odds can compete for a podium finish, making each-way betting more valuable than simply backing favorites.
Before placing an each-way bet, I always look for players who consistently place within the top 10 or top 15 at the least but rarely win, since there’s a chance that they can go on streaks and overachieve.
Golf is as much mental as it is physical. As a weekend golfer, I’ve come to understand that a player in good form makes better swings and trusts their swing under pressure. When looking for value bets in golf odds, always look at recent performances to spot trends. A good rule of thumb is to check the golfer’s last five to 10 tournaments to see whether they are consistently making it to the top 10 or have been struggling with missed cuts.
Should you find that a player has been delivering good performances as of late, betting on them might be a good idea since there is a chance that they can carry their momentum into the next tournament. However, remember to only ever bet what you can afford to lose. Nothing is guaranteed.
As you can see, golf betting is far from boring. With plenty of betting markets and live betting opportunities, you can engage in the sport in a fun and strategic way. Of course, its unpredictable nature can always pose some challenges, although you can offset this by understanding betting markets, taking advantage of live betting opportunities, and tracking player form. Whether you are just starting out or have been betting since Tiger Woods won his first Masters Tournament, you’ll always find some action betting on golf.
Punters can place some action on their favorite players via the outright winner, each-way, top finishes, head-to-head, and prop betting markets.
Weather forecast is crucial in golf betting since wind and course conditions favor specific players.
An each-way bet is a bet split between a golfer winning the tournament outright and placing within the top five or top 10.
Players must be 21 years of age or older or reach the minimum age for gambling in their respective state and located in jurisdictions where online gambling is legal. Please play responsibly. Bet with your head, not over it. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, and wants help, call or visit: (a) the Council on Compulsive Gambling of New Jersey at 1-800-Gambler or www.800gambler.org; or (b) Gamblers Anonymous at 855-2-CALL-GA or www.gamblersanonymous.org.