Golf Betting – Where and How to Bet on Golf
Golf betting grows in popularity all the time, as fans try to find different ways to benefit from their knowledge of the sport. With the increased prevalence of golf wagering for real money at gambling websites, there are more and more ways for golf fans to take advantage of moneymaking opportunities. If you’re interested in getting started with this practice, this golf betting guide is an excellent way to begin.
Golf is a sport that dates back hundreds of years and is enjoyed by millions across the world. Many of those recreational players, and even some that have never picked up a club, watch the professionals closely enough that they feel they can predict the outcomes of specific events. That’s part of the reason why golf betting for real money, either at sportsbooks or gambling sites, is so popular.
In the following article, we will provide you with a golf betting guide that should answer all your questions about how it works and how to bet on golf. We’ll talk about the different types of golf bets available, how the golf betting odds work, and what tips you can use to improve your chances of winning. And we’ll also help you understand the process, in terms of where, when, and how to place your bets.
Best Golf Betting Sites in 2024
We’ve found that some people want to jump right into the betting, and we understand that. That is why we have put together this list below of the best golf betting sites where you can get started betting on golf online in minutes.
| Rank | Gambling Site | Deposit Bonus | Get Started | |
| #1 |
BetUS
|
125% Up To $2,500 | Visit Site | |
| #2 |
BetOnline Sports
|
50% Up To $1,000 | Visit Site | |
| #3 |
MyBookie
|
50% Up To $1,000 | Visit Site | |
| #4 |
SportsBetting.ag
|
50% Up To $1,000 | Visit Site | |
| #5 |
Bovada Sports
|
50% Up To $250 | Visit Site | |
A Beginner’s Guide to Betting on Golf
To understand how to bet on golf, you first need to get a grasp of how golf events work. The basic method of competition in golf is the tournament. This is when a large number of players gather at the same course and compete for a stretch of usually four days’ time (generally Thursday through Sunday).
The players compete by how many strokes it takes them to get around the golf course. At the end of the four days, the player with the lowest score is the winner and receives the biggest share of the purse money. Meanwhile, other players who did well can also get a share of the overall purse depending on where they finish.
Golf is based on a system of scoring known as par. Par is basically a standard set for how many strokes it should take the player to finish a hole (usually three, four, or five). Players strive to be the most under-par at the end of the tournament, which means they exceeded the expected standard by the most strokes.
Of course, you don’t need to know any of this technically to do some betting on golf online. But it will help you understand how it works in order to make the most informed choices. And it will also help you understand the different kinds of golf bets available to you.
Golf Betting Resources
Golf Betting Sites
Golf is one of the few sports that is never really out of season. As a result, there is almost always some sort of major golf tournament happening somewhere in the world. So, it should come as no surprise that golf is one of the most popular sports in the world on which to wager. While the PGA Tour attracts most of the interest from bettors, you can find golf betting lines, props, and futures across a variety of different events at all of our highest-ranked online golf betting sites. For more information, check out our detailed guide on what makes these the best golf betting sites in the industry today.
Golf Betting Apps
Thanks to the latest technological advancements, you don’t have to be at home or at your nearest casino if you want to bet on golf. The very best sites for betting on golf online have all developed their own corresponding mobile apps that you can easily download right to your smartphone or tablet. These modern golf betting apps offer all the same betting options you can find on their standard sites, and they’re all easily accessible via your preferred mobile device. For a longer look at what makes these the best golf betting apps available today, consult our handy golf betting apps page.
Golf Betting Strategy
Turning a consistent profit when betting on golf for real money is no easy task. If it was, everyone would do it. However, there are a few tips you can learn along the way that will ultimately help you improve your chances at winning on a steady basis. Our golf betting strategy page is designed to give you a detailed analysis of a few different things that you can utilize to your advantage in your golf betting endeavors.
Golf Legends
The sport of golf has produced plenty of legendary players over the decades. Tiger Woods is still one of the most popular athletes in any sport on the planet, while others like Arnold Palmer, Sam Snead, and Jack Nicklaus helped pave the way for the modern crop of golf superstars. If you’re interested in learning more about some of the more noteworthy figures in the history of the sport, check out our comprehensive list of the legends of the game.
Golf Betting News
It would be smart to check any recent news surrounding professional golf to prepare for a golf bet. We frequently post updates on what is happening in the world of golf, from betting odds for the next event to new deals signed by golfers. Following along with our golf news will give you any updates you need before you start golf betting.
Types of Golf Bets
Depending on the size and the popularity of the tournament, you can usually find a wide variety of real money golf bets available. Each will bring you a different set of odds and golf betting lines. Let’s take a look at some of the most popular golf wagers to help you get started betting on golf.
Winner Wagers
Win bets are the most popular of all golf bets and the simplest to understand. With these wagers, you are simply picking a player to win a specific golf tournament. If you pick the right player, you win the wager.
The trickier thing to understand is what the odds on these bets mean and how it affects your playoff. PGA betting, like many other sports bets, are based on a concept known as the moneyline. The moneyline features odds on each player to win based on their perceived changes.
The moneyline is based on the concept of a $100 wager. If the player’s odds have a plus sign listed in front of them, it means you will have to bet $100 on them to win that amount listed. By contrast, if the player’s real money golf betting odds have a minus sign in front of them, it means that you have to bet the listed amount to win $100.
Let’s look at an example. Imagine that you want to bet on Brooks Koepka to win a tournament and his odds are listed as such:
+1000
If you wager $100 on Koepka to win the tournament and he does, you’ll win $1,000 in return. You’re basically getting a 10 to 1 on return. Keep in mind that you can bet more or less than $100; that 10 to 1 return will be based on the size of your golf wager.
In terms of betting on players to win a golf tournament, it is rare to see a player listed with minus odds. That would indicate that the oddsmakers believe that they are more likely than not to win the tournament in question. Since there are usually many, many players in a tournament field, even the best players in the world face relatively long odds of winning any given tournament.
This is one of the reasons that win bets give you the best golf betting odds in terms of potential payback. But it can be difficult to pick one winner out of so many players in a tournament. That’s why those who come up with golf betting lines come up with wagers that give bettors more of a chance of winning, like the ones ahead.
Matchup Bets
If you’re betting on who is going to win a PGA golf tournament, you have to hope your favorite player has an incredible week, good enough to beat what could be upwards of a hundred players. But if you want to improve your chances of winning, a matchup bet can be a good way to do it.
A matchup bet is essentially a one-on-one bet which allows you to profit if you can pick the better of two players in the field. Take a look at a sample golf matchup bet:
Golf Matchup Bet
-130
+170
This bet narrows down the field to which player posts a better score at the end of a tournament. If Tiger Woods outperforms Phil Mickelson, you would win $100 on a $130 wager. By contrast, if Mickelson comes out on top, you would win $170 on a $100 wager.
The matchup bet looks more like what you would see in a team sports bet, like football or basketball. Each wager will come with a favorite (the minus) and the underdog (the plus).
Group Bets
Group golf bets also operate on a moneyline concept. The idea is that the bets are narrowed down to small groups of players. There are a few different ways that group bets can take place.
You could bet on one player to perform the best in a tournament out of several different players included in the wager. This gives you the chance at slightly better payback than a matchup bet, but is much easier to win that a winner bet.
Some real money golf betting sites also offer group bets that pit two groups of players against each other.
You can have a wager where the performances of Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth are pitted against the results of Dustin Johnson and Lee Westwood. After combining the scores of the players, the winner of the wager is determined.
Daily Bets
A daily bet works similar to a winner bet, but it is focused on a single day instead of the entire tournament. For example, you might bet on Bryson DeChambeau to post the best score on a Friday within a tournament. Daily bets just give you more ways to break down a tournament.
Golf Futures and Props
If you’re a sports bettor, you know that futures and prop wagers can be a lot of fun and quite lucrative. A futures wager on a golf tournament can come well in advance of the actual event. The idea behind a futures wager in golf betting is that you can get more lucrative odds on a player to win than you might once the tournament is being held.
Prop bets are offered by betting sites and sportsbooks as a way to bet on something other than the actual outcome of the tournament. For example, you might make a prop bet on whether or not a hole in one will be made during a tournament. Bettors who know tournaments inside and out can really benefit from prop bets.
Different Types of Golf You Can Bet On
Professional Golf
Pro golf is where most golf wagering takes place. Take a look at some of the different types of pro golf that take place throughout each year.
- PGA Tour: The PGA is the top men’s tour in the United States, featuring the best players in the world.
- LPGA Tour: The LPGA is the top women’s professional tour in the United States.
- International Tours: Many countries or regions around the world have their own tours (like the European Tour) that offer many betting opportunities.
- Champions Tour: This is the tour in the United States which focuses on professional golfers over the age of 50.
Team Competitions
Most golf tournaments are individual affairs, where players on out for themselves trying to win big money. But there are occasional team events, often with teams from different regions of the world competing against each other over. For instance, the Ryder Cup pits the best players in the United States versus the best in Europe.
Team tournaments can be excellent betting opportunities. Not only can be you bet head-to-head matchups between teams, but there are also many opportunities for prop bets which dissect the individual performers on the different teams competing.
Match Play
The golf tournaments we described above operate on stroke play, where the outcome is determined by a cumulative number of strokes taken by players over several days of action. Match play is a head-to-head competition where players are matched one on one against each other. They are set up in brackets and need to continue winning individual matches to eliminate other players.
You can bet on winners of the entire match play events. But because of the head-to-head matchups, you can bet on those as well, giving you many ways to win.
How to Bet on Golf
Now that you know the types of ways you can bet on golf tournaments, it’s time to talk about where to bet on golf. There are two main ways to get started betting on golf today.
Land-Based Sportsbooks
A sportsbook can be any organization that can legally take wagers on sporting events in the jurisdiction where you are located. Most sportsbooks are located within casinos, but they can also be standalone operations, especially in locations outside the United States.
Sportsbooks will offer betting lines on different golf events. Employees sit at windows waiting to help you process your wagers. You can also use golf betting kiosks at sportsbooks, where you can input the type of bet, the players involved, the amount of money you’re wagering, and any other pertinent information on your own.
The benefit of wagering at a sportsbook is that you can get your payback immediately at the conclusion of the golf event you’re betting. But you might not be able to find one near you.
Online Golf Betting
Golf betting online allows you to wager on the top events via sports betting websites or mobile sports wagering apps. It’s an extremely simple and convenient process. Even if you’re a bit worried about the technology, once you get started with gambling websites, you’ll find that it’s not that much trouble at all.
Take a look at the process of betting on golf matches via online websites:
- Choose a golf betting website: You shouldn’t just pick the first site that you find. Instead, you should take your time and choose an online golf betting site that is well-regarded and reliable among the gambling community. After all, you’ll be putting real money at stake.
- Personal information: You’ll need to give basic information to the site in question to get started. On top of that, you’ll pick out a user name and password so that you can log in to the site whatever device you’re using.
- Provide funding: You can usually use a credit card to provide the money for your golf bets at the website that you choose. In addition, some websites might even allow you to use cryptocurrency like Bitcoin as your funding.
- Make your bets: The top betting websites are easy to navigate so that you can find your favorite tournament of golf event. From there, it’s just a matter of clicking some boxes to put your wagers into action.
- Collecting winnings: To collect any winnings you might amass from a betting website, you have to go through a process of withdrawal. Most betting sites list their guidelines for withdrawals right up front. You should always check to see if you’re comfortable with these guidelines before signing on.
Perhaps the most important part of this process is the first one. You have to make sure that you choose one of the gambling websites for betting on golf to ensure that you don’t have a negative experience. Here are the sites that we feel are the best:
Golf Betting Tips
- Hot or not: Golfers, like many other athletes, tend to go on streaks, both for good and bad. Take a look at how a golfer has performed in recent tournaments leading into the one that you’re planning to bet. It can reveal if the player might be able to come in with a good performance in the event at hand.
- Courses matter: Some players tend to perform well at the same events year after year. It could be because the course where a specific tournament is being held just fits well with their style of play. That’s why you should look into past records instead of just what’s been happening lately.
- Go beyond the big names: You will always have a hard time getting favorable golf odds on some of the biggest names in the sport, since oddsmakers will always skew the lines to those players. If anything, the best time to go with a big game might be when they’re slumping, since the odds might finally get more reasonable.
- Hedge your winner bets: As we said, it can be difficult to pick the winner when there are so many players in a tournament. But if you can narrow it down a group of maybe five or ten players, you can split your bets between them. If one of them wins, you can still earn a profit.
- Research at all costs: Golf betting online can be a lot of fun, but it can quickly turn frustrating if you’re losing a lot. That can happen if you’re just betting haphazardly and not looking into it closely. By contrast, a little bit of research can go a long way to your winning more.
Golf Betting FAQ
Can I Win Real Money Betting on Golf?
Whether you wager at a sportsbook or on a gambling website, you can indeed win real money betting on golf matches. Of course, the trick is that you have to wager actual money in order to win real money in return. You should check on the website or sportsbook in question to find out the minimum and maximum wagers you can make.
Is It Legal to Bet on Golf?
As long as you choose a reputable betting website or are betting at an accredited sportsbook golf wagering is certainly legal. The only illegal type of golf wagering is if you were to do it with an unofficial bookmaker (or are taking the bets of others yourself). Legal sports wagering is becoming available in more and more jurisdictions in the United States, while there are many legal sports betting sites overseas.
Can I Make Wagers as a Golf Tournament Is Taking Place?
This is a process known as live wagering, and it is allowed by many gambling websites. For example, imagine that a player is just a few shots behind the leader with nine holes still left to play. The golf betting website could then give you odds based on that, odds which would change as the tournament progresses and that player does better or worse.
Are There Moneyline Odds in Place for Every Possible Golf Wager?
You’ll most likely see a moneyline in place for every possible wager that you can make on a golf tournament, right down to prop and future wagers. This is how oddsmakers even the playing field so that, ideally, the same amount of money is bet on each possible outcome.
Why Does the Favorite to Win a Tournament Still Have Such Long Odds?
If there were 150 players in a tournament and they were all at even footing, the chances of any one of them winning would be 150 to 1. While the best players can certainly narrow those odds, it is still very difficult for them to overcome so many players in a given four-day stretch. That’s why even the favorite in a golf tournament field can sometimes pay very well.
Why Do I Get Better Payback on a Futures Bet Than on a Winners Bet the Week of the Tournament?
When you make a futures bet, you are taking the chance that something could happen to the player you pick to lessen their chances of winning. Considering you can make a futures bet for major tournaments months in advance, this is always a possibility. By contrast, when you make a winners bet close to the actual event, there are less variables that can derail your pick.
Final Words on Golf Betting
We hope that this golf betting guide can help you make effective wagers. Golf betting can really be an excellent way for diehard fans of the sport to profit. Just make sure that you always choose both your bets and your golf betting sites wisely.
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