Golf is loved all over the world. This is why betting on golf is so popular, especially in New Zealand. You’ll find odds shown live on TV channels and golf betting markets available at most online bookmakers.
To help determine which betting site is right for you, we’ve prepared a list of the best golf betting sites available. We’ll also explain golf betting markets, types of bets and provide helpful tips and information to get you started.
So, let’s start by looking at our top recommendations for golf betting sites in New Zealand…
You may place bets on golf tournaments in a variety of ways, including on the winner of this week’s golf tournament, futures bets on a major, and a plethora of player props.
However, before the first hole is hit off the tee, there are many things that you can do as a punter to ensure that you’re on the right course to increase your chances of coming out on top in the next golf event.
Golf betting is understandably difficult, as there are so many variables that can affect gameplay throughout the day, however, these are some golf betting tips that can apply to your golf picks, regardless of whether it’s the Solheim Cup or the Ryder Cup.
If you’re analysing your golf betting, start your handicapping with the form they have currently because this is commonly the part where oddsmakers form the basis for their golf event odds for the week. At the end of the day, golfers are human and have good and bad days, just like any other athlete or sporting team.
Streaks like this may include emerging victorious in tournaments, placing at the top of the rankings, or exceeding expectations. Check these streaks against their overall averages. Also, note if there are any factors impacting their streaks and take note for future betting.
There are times when a player’s performance has improved. But sometimes, it may also be a less competitive field.
Streaks that you’d call cold can appear too, and often down periods like this occur as a result of the particular traits of a player’s performance, like poor putting performance or inaccurate driving.
Recovering from injuries, experimenting with swing mechanics and approaches, and working with new or unfamiliar clubs, are also factors that can impact how much a golfer shows up on a certain day.
One factor that you must consider in your pre-betting analysis is if the course fits your player pick.
Certain golf courses will serve the golfers whose distance per drive is impressive and who can rapidly find the green. Fairways are generally wider, and their length per hole is longer on average. Looking on the other side of the field, those players who tend to drive more accurately than other golfers will excel when constrained fairways and hazards are off the tee.
Due to the amount of sand bunkers and water, and considering the location of the hard pins, it is essential to find players who are precise in their approach and have metrics that indicate great scrambling. Undulating unpredictable greens have a chance to rapidly hand those outstanding putters the advantage on the scoreboard.
“Horses for courses” is a very common phrase in the golfing world that refers to aligning the strong points and weak points of a certain golfer in relation to the makeup of the course. It’s very commonly seen in golf betting.
We always recommend checking the forecast before placing any golf bets! Check daily forecasts and also the four day forecast so you can make a calculated bet and take the weather into account.
Some examples of how the weather may significantly influence how a course plays are:
Strong winds: compelling golfers to shorten whatever drives they are thinking of doing and try to be as accurate as possible
Rain: wetting the green, fairways and other surfaces and slowing down play.
Once you know the forecast, you can evaluate how much a player’s level of skill and the conditions can help or hurt them. You can also identify which players, based on where they are from, are used to playing in conditions that are less than ideal.
Golfers have to chance to experience a myriad of weather conditions as the day progresses depending on when the action starts.
Players who start their day early in the morning can come across a slower and softer course. In the afternoon, there can be a visceral combination of sunshine and hot conditions. This causes fairways, green and other surfaces to dry out, making play faster.
You can boost your chances of winning by applying some strategy to your golf betting. Here are our top recommendations:
With so many golfers available to bet on during a tournament, selecting the winner can be challenging. Instead of betting all of your money on an individual player, consider selecting a handful of players. Look for a range of golfers that give you varying odds so you’ll make a profit even though you’re spreading your bet across a few players.
For example, if you want to place a bet on who you think will win a PGA tour tournament and your budget is $20, split it between three or four players.
Instead of putting your entire wager on a player winning, consider an each-way bet that allows you to bet on a win and a place. This means you’ll make a profit if the player finishes towards the top of the leaderboard. Different online sportsbooks offer competitive each-way terms. Ideally, look for six, seven or 8-12 places to maximise your chances of a return.
The top golf betting sites offer competitive odds for an each-way bet.
Many online sportsbooks allow you to cash out your bets before the tournament ends. Given there’ll only be one golfer who can win the tournament, cashing out can be a great way to try and make a profit or reduce your losses.
For example, if you bet $10 on a golfer to win 50/1 for a potential profit of $500, some top golf betting sites might offer you the chance to close out your bet for $200 if you do so before the tournament ends. The cash-out option will depend on how likely it is that you’d win your bet.
This strategy lets you make a wager on each individual round rather than the overall game. You can bet on on a player beating their two playing partners over the first and second rounds of an event or in the final two rounds. These can be a good choice if one of the players is out of form and you expect them to perform badly. Place your wager on the opposing golfer.
Setting a bankroll means you’ll stick to your budget and allows you to split out the stakes across the tournament. Ideally, set aside a certain amount you want to gamble over the total days of the tournament and split out the stakes so you’ve got a maximum daily wager amount set. Depending on the golf betting odds before the tournament starts, you may also want to consider which bets you’ll make pre-tournament and in-play.
Holding off until the first two rounds of competition have been played means you get to bet on a reduced field. This approach can help you make a more informed wager. You can assess the two rounds to see who is playing well to help decide the best player to back.
Here are our top 3 recommended sites to visit when you’re ready to place your golf bets.
At Casinocrawlers, our experts assess the following criteria to recommend the top golf betting sites for you.
Many sports betting sites offer welcome bonuses when opening a new account. These are usually free bets and are loaded into your account after you make your first deposit. We look for welcome bonuses that offer the best value free golf bets, with fair playing terms and low wagering requirements.
At Casinocrawlers, we only ever recommend sports betting sites and online casinos that are licensed and regulated. That’s because these sites must follow strict protocols that help keep you safe when betting online. They are checked regularly and use encryption security software to protect your personal information.
We want to ensure that there are various ways our readers can make deposits and withdrawals when online golf betting. For example, e-wallets like PayPal and Skrill, credit and debit cards, and bank transfer options.
We check that golf betting sites offer a range of betting markets and decent odds. Given the big tournaments in golf are played over several days, we also check that you can make live bets. So you can place a bet after assessing the game and boost your chances of winning your wager.
The best golf betting sites offer enhanced odds. Enhanced odds refer to short-term offers where the odds available have been increased. We recommend choosing sites that give you a boost on your chosen player or enhanced odds before the tournament begins.
When looking at sites, we check how easy and straightforward it is to sign up for an account. While regulated sites will ask you to verify your identity, we ensure this process is simple and fast for customers. So that you can make a deposit and place a wager as soon as possible.
If you’re ready to make a wager, follow these steps:
Golf picks can offer sports fans a wealth of options throughout the golf season to land a serious winner year-round.
While usual favourites like Tiger Woods and Tom Kim can provide returns if a bettor picks the right golf odds to accompany the game, there are also opportunities to bet on underdogs coming out on top and providing some life-changing returns, especially in one of the golf majors.
The four majors and many a European tour will offer a potential punter a myriad of options for golf betting, week in and week out on different golf events.
After reading this section, you should have a good grasp of the types of golf betting we will have covered.
The first-round leader betting process is rather simple. Basically, this mode of betting determines which golfer will end the first day with the overall lead, therefore the golf odds will be generated based on that.
Charley Hoffman is known as a player who gets out of the gates quickly, so opportunities like this might be the best way for you to earn some money.
At the end of each day’s play, odds will normally be put on the leaders of the second, third, and final rounds.
This form of golf betting is generally less common than the others we’ve listed here, with tournaments such as the Presidents Cup, the Ryder Cup, and the annual Dell Technologies Match Play being the only competitions that use the match play betting format.
In each of these competitions, an American team faces off against a team from another country every other year. You can bet on golfers going head-to-head all the way to the tournament’s end in the Dell Match Play.
There are frequent USA versus Europe and USA vs. the World team matchups in the competitive Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup and the odds can be very appealing.
You can wager on which team will win a match or which golfers will win particular competitions, like the Dell Match Play.
Do you admire a certain golfer but doubt their ability to succeed? Do you think Jordan Spieth has a good chance at the next golf majors but won’t come out on top? Or maybe Rory Mcilroy will finish in the top 5 maximum in the European tour?
The good news is that you can very easily place a wager with lower chances of whether they’ll place in the top 20, top 10, and even the top 5 highest players!
Feeling really secure? If you wager all of them, you will win three times over if your selected player places in the highest 5 positions! Because finishing in the top 20 is simpler than coming out victorious in a competition, the golf odds are of a smaller amount for that wager.
The most popular and simple sort of golf wager is one that predicts who’s going to take home the win in a specific tournament or event.
For example, let’s say Jordan Spieth will be the likely winner of the Masters or one of the Golf Majors this year. His odds are given by bookmakers as +1000.
Accordingly, you would need to stake $50 in addition to receiving your stake back for a total of $550 in order to win $500.
If Henrik Stenson had a betting line of +5000, a $10 wager would additionally win $500 in addition to the original bet.
Sports odds can seem overwhelming and look like number salad to the inexperienced eye, and if you’re new to reading golf odds and making betting decisions based on odds, here’s a helpful article that breaks it down well.
Sometimes, a golf betting site will group six players together before a round. This allows you to bet on which golfer out of the group you think will achieve the best score over 18 rounds of golf.
When betting on your preferred player, you may wish to consider whether they’re likely to outplay competing players from the same region or country. These can be a good bet if you’re looking to oppose a favourite. For example, you think Patrick Catnaly will beat Scottie Scheffler.
This betting market lets you choose the nationality of who you believe will win the tournament. For example, if the tournament is being played in the U.S., you might believe the winner is more likely to be American.
Sometimes, a golf betting site lets you place a wager on a market that excludes short-priced favourites.
This is a great option if you’re looking to make an accumulator bet. You can choose to back one player over another in terms of their overall score, whether that’s over 18 rounds or a 72-hole match bet.
This is a simple bet where you wager on whether you think there will be a hole in one made during a particular event. You can also select if you think an individual player will likely make a hole-in-one, which usually offers long odds.
The best golf betting sites will offer free bets to customers, usually as part of a welcome bonus. They can also be available to loyal players who continue to make deposits. Once you deposit funds to your account, the sports betting site will add the free bets to your account.
Check each site to see if any terms and conditions are associated with the free bets. For example, some sites will limit where you can use your free bets, have playthrough requirements for any winnings or limit how much you can win.
All the best golf betting sites will allow customers to place bets after the tournament starts. That’s because the major games are held over four days, so the sportsbook has plenty of opportunities to take bets and update the odds during play.
Most players typically wait to place their bets during the competition, though it’s always a good idea to take a look at the odds available pre-tournament to determine the right strategy for your wager.
Like placing a bet on a horse race, each way bets allow you to receive a payout even if your chosen player doesn’t win the tournament. Half of your wager goes on the player to win, while the other half is for them to finish in one of the top places. Look for sites offering higher payouts for a place to maximise your return.
Many big golfing tournaments are available worldwide that you can bet on at various online golf betting sites. Here are some of the biggest tournaments around.
The Open Championship is played in the UK and is the year’s final major. It occurs at British links courses like The Old Course at St Andrews or Royal Liverpool. Each July, some of the world’s top players compete over four rounds in difficult coastal conditions to compete for the Claret Jug.
The US Masters is the only major golf played at the same course each year in April. A select group of invited players are invited to compete at Augusta National, one of the most famous golf courses in the world. Players compete to win the famous green jacket in the year’s first major. Because it has a smaller field than the other majors, it can be easier to pick the winner.
The US Open sees players compete in lengthy courses across the US, including Pebble Beach, Winged Foot and Shinnecock Hills. It offers the biggest prize money for players and is perfect for big hitters off the tee. American players have been the most prominent winners in recent years.
Usually played in May, this tournament is only for professional players. It’s held across different golf courses throughout America, typically in the country’s Eastern half. Recent host courses include TPC Harding Park in San Francisco and Bethpage Black in Farmingdale, New York.
This tournament is held every two years and is a competition between the United States and Europe. Venues alternate between the U.S. and Europe, with two teams of 12 players competing over three days. Golf bettors will find plenty of Ryder Cup specials available at golf betting sites, including accumulators and overall scores.
This Cup is the female equivalent of the Ryder Cup. Europe and America’s top female golfers compete over three days to determine the ultimate champions. Golf bettors can place a wager on each match, during the golf tournament and more.
The Summer Olympics is held every four years. Although golf was first played in the Olympics in 1904, it was removed for over 100 years and only recently returned in 2016. Some of the world’s leading female and male players represent their countries in the Olympics. The players compete over four rounds and plenty of betting markets are available at golf betting sites.
Another team competition, the Presidents Cup, is a biennial global event held over three days. The U.S. team competes against an international team of players from everywhere except Europe. It’s a unique event because there’s no prize money for players.
The U.S. team has a strong track record of winning the Cup, with many punters betting on the team to take home the win.
Some of the best betting sites also offer apps and sites that are fully optimised for various devices. Here are some of our favourites.
The best golf betting sites on our recommended list offer a wide range of secure payment methods to NZ punters. To give you plenty of choices to find a payment method that suits you. And allow you to make quick and easy deposits and withdrawals.
We review each golf betting site to ensure it offers options such as credit and debit cards, e-wallets, cryptocurrency and bank transfers.
Most golf betting sites don’t charge a fee for transactions, but it’s always a good idea to check the terms and conditions to confirm before you open an account. Also, check fees for your payment option. For example, some methods will charge fees for each transaction.
If you’re ready to make a wager on the next big tournament, visit one of the online sportsbook sites listed above. All the sites we recommend are reputable and reliable, offering good odds and free bets to suit any type of golf bettor. Many also allow you to make bets live throughout the tournament. So you can watch some of the world’s best golf tournaments and place an up-to-date bet to maximise your chances of securing a win.
Make sure to check out which sites offer the best value-free bets and consider which type of bet is right for your budget and betting strategy.
Golf betting tips and golf betting are widely found due to the popularity of the sport. Whether it's the Ryder Cup, Tom Kim getting a hole-in-one, or the winning margin of the victor of the Solheim Cup, there are tons of bookmakers and options that will have golf betting options and odds ready to go. Check out the best golf betting sites we've listed at CasinoCrawlers to get started.
Yes, golf betting has been consistently popular in the UK and Europe for decades, and has seen a surge in popularity in North America and Oceania.
Golf is played year-round, and there is always a tournament to place bets on and take advantage of the best golf picks. Follow golf publications, articles, and bookies to make sure that you're in the know about where to place your next bet.
Noah is the senior content editor at CasinoCrawlers and a writer with many iGaming articles under his portfolio. Therefore, he is skilled at writing bonus guidelines, gambling strategies, and casino reviews. During his spare time, he enjoys playing Call of Duty and is a huge rugby fan.
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