Advanced Golf Betting Strategies

From an outsider’s point of view, betting on golf is comparable to getting a lottery ticket. It seems very far fetched to try to determine the winner when there are usually over 140 golfers competing in one tournament. Contrary to belief, golf betting can be very profitable if you know your stuff.

The golf betting industry is growing, and there are plenty of advanced stats available online to help you narrow down your targets each week. Researching is crucial prior to each tournament. Course history and recent form are two critical pieces of information to analyze. Golfers tend to enjoy repeated success at courses that suit their game. Also, since golf is such a game of routine and rhythm, players usually stay hot after a recent stretch of good golf.

It is also helpful to look at the layout of the course, including the size, type of grass used on the greens, and the size of the golf holes. Certain golfers perform better on shorter/longer courses, on different types of grass, and can take advantage of courses with numerous par 5s. Always do your research prior to locking in your favorite outrights each week.

There are plenty of other options other than the typical “outright”, “top-five”, “top-10”, “top-20”, or “first-round leader” bet. Many sportsbooks will offer several different types of prop bets prior to the beginning of the tournament. In majors especially, prop bets are a fun way to enjoy yourself while watching.

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Types of Advanced Golf Bets

Each Way Betting
Since it is very hard to hit an outright winner, many sportsbooks give you the option to bet the “each way”. When you place an each way bet, you are placing a stake on a player to both win the tournament and finish”placed”. For example, you will get one-fourth of your outright bet winnings if the golfer you bet on finishes in the top five.

Match Bets (18 hole matchups)
The bookmakers will pair two golfers against each other for each round. Each golfer will be given betting odds. You are betting on which golfer will score better in that given round.

3 Balls
In the first two rounds of the tournament (prior to the cut), golfers will be placed in groups of three. You will be able to wager on which golfer will have the best score after 18 holes.

Will there be a hole-in-one?
You are simply betting that one golfer hits a hole-in-one during the tournament. To make things a little more fun, you can also bet on a certain golfer to hit a hole-in-one. The payouts are great, and it adds a little more intrigue while watching a major tournament.

Top Nationality Betting
In this type of bet, you are choosing the winning golfer’s nationality. You can find pretty good value sometimes, especially if you are high on a golfer from a unique nationality (other than the USA or Europe).

Age of the Winner
The sportsbook will give you an age, and you must bet if the age of the winner will be over or under the set number. This makes for a fun bet, especially if you are are sure that an experienced golfer will win a big event.

Top Amateur Finisher
For each major tournament, a sportsbook will give you a list of amateurs competing. Your job is to pick your favorite to score the best out of all of them.

Lowest Tournament Round
A type of bet where you wager on if the lowest round of the tournament will be over or under a certain amount. For example, if you feel like no golfer will shoot lower than a 65 at a major due to tough conditions that week, you would bet the under 65.

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Nic Turner is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from Nic, check out his archive and follow him @sportzbandit.