In Nigeria, golf betting is not a popular trend among punters despite bookies offering markets on the top sport and the available betting markets cover world tournaments like the PGA and the European tours. The good thing about these two associations is that they offer golf tournaments that are available throughout the year.
Golf is seen as an easy sport with most punters preferring to keep away since it is not filled with the entertainment of sports we are more accustomed to like football, basketball or ice hockey and also little is known about golf with majority of bookmakers in Nigeria not offering markets of interest in the sport.
Golf in simple terms is hitting a white ball (golf ball) and trying to guide it towards a hole (the green) to gain points. So in order to understand how the sport works you need to gain interest in the sport followed by knowledge and lastly betting strategies.To win in golf you need to first learn the basics, terms used, sets of rules and how you win a wager.
Rules used in golf Betting
Golf like most sport have rules that guide the players during their clash with each other and the set of rules used in golf are easy to understand. The main idea in finding holes is to get the most holes in a tournament with the fewest stroke/hits on the golf ball and that’s how a winner is determined in theory the one with the most holes.
The players use golf clubs to hit the golf ball and can choses the type of head to hit depending on distance or type of hit they would like to make, this is a skill used by many professional players and can easily determine a win or loss depending on the weight of each round. A round contains 18 holes with four rounds being played in a period of 4 days, meaning players are each supposed to play 72 holes or more to win the tournament trophy.
The players usually start off with a tee shot. It is called this due to special golf club known as a tee that lifts the ball slightly above the grass level and direct the shot to the fairway (well kept grass were the hole is placed) also known as the green. In top professional leagues sand is added around the ‘green’ to make it more difficult to get a hole.
A “par system” is developed for most holes made by a player is par 4, meaning a player has to get a hole in four shots to stay in an average position and the same applies for par 3 and par 5 common in professional golf. A one hole in one is the highest score and happens when a player hits the ball into a hole in a single stroke on the golf ball, although a rare phenomenon it happens from time to time. Other scoring rules include:
- Albatross – three strokes less than par
- Eagle – two strokes less than par
- Birdie – one stroke less than par
- Par – equal number of strokes as the hole’s par value
- Bogey – one stroke more than par
- Double bogey – two strokes more than par
- Triple bogey – three strokes more than par
How a cut works in golf betting
The cut is a term used in golf, whereby organizers cut competitors into two after competing in the first two days in a round and divided them according to performance the lower half end their season early with the upper half continue in the next 2 days round. Similar to footballs championship knockout stages. This is used to reduce number of competitors and all the remaining players to play in two day final with minimal congestion since their stretched out.
How to bet on golf
Popular events to bet in golf is the PGA and the European Tours. During this events odds can change in a period of 4 days depending on the performance of your player and is good for betting since all players are playing to win. Making it convenient for a punter to place bets. The common bet types to use are:
- Each way is considered the best way to cover a player in a championship tournament. In simple terms each way betting type ensure a player is backed even if they don’t win they are covered provide the finish at the top know as a ‘place’. You wager is divided into two to cover the winner and a place position of your player. If you win on both fronts then you would be doubling your profit but in the event your player loses on the top spot but finishes in place position your wager wins. This type is considered the safest option in golf betting.
- Player specials from the term specials you are backing your player to finish in the top position or above a particular rival and usually this type of bet is determined by previous head to head statistics between two or more players in a tournament. You can also place a wager for a player to finish top or win the first rounds of 18 holes.
- Season bet types is placing a wager for the whole season. The common types include ‘to win major’, top five finish or to finish in top 20 position in all majors. This type of bets are limited to the bookie they are not consistent and vary from each bookie.
Best tournaments to look out for in golf betting
The majors are the most common and easily available markets world wide, there are four majors whereby the best of the best players in the world compete for the title and trophy. Apart from the majors we have the Ryder Cup a competition held annually between the best players in Europe and the best in USA. Consists of two teams that compete for the cup. The competition has a maximum of 28 points and the first team to reach 14.5 points wins. The Ryder Cup is among the best to bet on
