How to bet on golf: Understand the betting, find bonuses, and sink the bookies

Golf is a sport played by over 65 million people worldwide each year. Born in Scotland in the 15th century, it is especially popular in North America, Asia, and Europe.

Today, golf is great fun to play and is an excellent way to improve your fitness while spending time with friends and family. But when the professionals take to the course, things get really exciting.

The top golf competitions, including the Majors, are competitive, tense, and notoriously difficult to predict, making it ideally suited to online gambling. If you’re an avid golf fan and would like to use your passion to target a profit by betting on the results, this article is for you. If you are new to golf and want to find out what all the fuss is about, we have you covered. There’s something for everyone.

Keep reading as Whop’s popular online betting series shines the spotlight on golf, explaining the sport’s finer details, picking out the best betting markets, detailing how to claim a welcome bonus free bet, and more.

Expert view on golf betting

Whop brings readers expert information and advice on all forms of sports betting, from the best bonuses to our complete gambling glossary. Our content team boasts many years of experience in the online sportsbook field and uses that background to help our readers bet responsibly while increasing their chances of making a profit.

We thought, who better to explain golf betting than a sportsbook writer and former professional athlete from Scotland, the home of professional golf? Keep reading as Whop’s Frank Monkhouse shares hints, tips, and tricks to make you a profitable gambler. You’ll also find betting information on other popular sports below.

• How to bet on the English Premier League
• How to bet on the NBA
• How to bet on the NFL
• How to bet on MLB
• How to bet on the NHL

Key golf facts: Golfers, Majors, and courses

Before we dive into how to bet on golf, let's take a look at some key facts - like the most successful golfers, famous tournaments, and best golf courses.

The most successful golfers

When betting on golf, it’s essential to recognize the top names and most successful players. This could help when making predictions, with many online gamblers eager to side with championship-winning experience, especially in the biggest events.

Here is a list of the most successful professional golfers in history, judging by Majors won.

The Majors

The professional golf season works similarly to the pro tennis circuit, where players compete in tours and qualifying events before testing their skills in the biggest annual competitions, the Majors. Those high-profile tournaments see the sport’s most talented players compete for huge cash prizes and iconic titles. 

Online sportsbooks offer the most betting markets, best free bets, and generous odds on the golf Majors, but what are they, when are Majors held, and in which country?

You’ll find the answers in the table below.

Most famous golf courses

Golf is a sport with several ancient and beautiful courses, but there are also several new and modern courses on the professional circuit.

Here are the best courses in the world.

Where to watch golf

Golf enjoys better coverage today than ever, thanks to increased live TV coverage and improvements in live streaming technology. You can visit one of the courses mentioned above to see the best players compete for the biggest prizes or follow from the comfort of home.

Many online bettors enjoy making predictions, watching the play, and cheering their favorite players to the title. Here’s where to watch golf.

• NBC Sports - United States - PGA Tour, The Open, Ryder Cup.
• CBS Sports - United States - The Masters, PGA Championship.
• Sky Sports - United Kingdom - PGA Tour, European Tour, Ryder Cup, The Open.
• ESPN - Global - Masters, PGA Championship.
• Fox Sports - Australia - PGA Tour, European Tour, The Open, Ryder Cup.

The format of golf competitions

To have the best chance of making profitable bets on golf, you must understand the format of the best competitions. Knowledge is power in sports betting; the more you know, the better your bets. I’ll now guide you through the basic format of the most popular golf competitions, including the majors.

The best golf tournaments, including all four Majors, use stroke play. Players compete to putt their ball in the fewest shots possible. The player with the fewest strokes at the end of play wins. Most competitions are decided over 72 holes, with four rounds of 18 holes each. Players usually play one round of golf per day from Thursday to Sunday.

After two rounds, the cut is made when the best-performing players with the lowest scores - usually the top 50 - advance to another two rounds to decide a champion. Those below the cut-off are eliminated from the running after two days, leaving the best to fight it out for the prize money. If two or more players are tied after 72 holes, they enter a playoff for the title.

Golf bettors can have their say on several features, including the outright champion of a tournament, to make the cut, and more. Here are some key rules to keep in mind when following professional golf.

• Players must play the ball as it lies.
• Lost balls incur a penalty shot.
• Players can take relief if the ball is in a penalty area.
• It’s essential to repair damage to the green.
• A maximum of 14 clubs is allowed in the bag.

How to bet on golf online

Now that we better understand professional golf, the season, and the Majors, let’s turn our attention to betting on the sport. 

1. Choose your betting option

Visit any major online sportsbook and click on golf in the sports navigation bar for an impressive list of competitions, markets, and specials. You have three main options for betting on golf. You can wager on the outright winner of a competition, pick the winner on the futures markets, or bet on a round that has already begun. 

Let’s examine all three in more detail. This betting glossary will be helpful if you are unclear on any bets or the terminology in my article.

Futures

It may sound like a strange name for a wager, but futures betting is simpler than you might think. Did you know you can gamble on the winner of your favorite golf major many months in advance? Almost as soon as one champion is confirmed, bookmakers publish their odds on the winner of the following year’s event. But why would you want to gamble on the winner of the Masters 12 months in advance?

Some bettors love the futures market as it gives them bigger odds on their picks than is available to those leaving it until the start of day one. In most cases, the earlier you pick a winner and set your stake, the greater the odds available. You can quickly back this year’s champion to defend their title next year or side with a runner-up following a near-miss. 

The futures betting markets on major golf events are available early and throughout the build-up. Traders update their odds after the result of every respected competition to ensure they have a book that reflects recent form.

Outright and specials

If you’d prefer to wait for the official line-up and bet on the recent form, you can gamble on an upcoming golf event anytime during the lead-up to tee, including on the opening morning of play. Browse the outright betting and study the stats, including past winners and form, injury news, head-to-head, and more. You’re then ready to gamble.

In addition to predicting the outright winner, you can also wager on a long list of specials, including to make the cut, a player to score a hole-in-one, the number of birdies, the score for the cut, top-10 finish, best-performing American and others. Browse the options, and you’re guaranteed to find at least one golf betting market that catches your eye.

Live betting

Live betting - also known as in-play betting - has changed the way we wager on sports forever, including professional golf. The trading team working at your favored bookie will create markets and publish their odds before the start of play on the opening day. You can gamble them or bide your time and bet live.

When a competition begins, the pre-tournament betting switches to live betting. An in-play trader will then monitor the action and update the betting odds accordingly. That means you can gamble at any stage of the contest and on any day. 

An exciting golf bet is possible before the players tee off on day one, until the last putt to win the trophy, and everything in between. Pay close attention and react to trends, such as a player on a run of birdies. Betting live allows you to factor in the form, weather, crowd, and more. Live betting puts you in complete control and removes the uncertainties that plague pre-competition gambling.

2. Create your betting account

To bet on professional golf or any popular sport, you must register with an online bookmaker that’s legal and licensed to trade in your region. You can browse the many apps featured at Whop, but you must join to deposit funds, gamble, and secure the welcome bonus free bet. 

Thankfully, registration takes just a few minutes following my step-by-step guide. It pays to have all important information handy to help speed up the process and ensure accuracy. Please be sure to follow each step, as missing just one could delay your account or cause you to miss out on the welcome bonus. 

Bonus tip: You can join as many online bookmakers as you like to collect the free bets and other specials reserved for new players, but you can only join a sportsbook once.

1. Visit the homepage of your preferred betting app.
2. Click the join button at the top of the page.
3. Add your name, age, and email address to the registration form,
4. Deposit $10 or more using your debit card or similar payment option.
5. Gamble on any golf market.
6. Find the welcome bonus in your betting balance.

Verify your info

As you register with a legal sportsbook remotely, you must verify your information. Verification is used at all reputable gambling apps and helps a bookmaker guard against underage gambling, identity fraud, money laundering, and other risks.

The request to verify may come when registering your account, but it’s more likely to arrive when you first withdraw profits from your betting balance to your payment card. Here’s how to verify quickly using your smartphone.

1. Switch on your device’s geolocation settings, proving you are in a state where online gambling is allowed.
2. Take a pic of your photo ID on your mobile’s camera and email it to your bookie’s account verification team.
3. They check your ID matches the details saved to your gambling account. 
4. Your account is then verified and passed in minutes.

3. Pick a golf betting strategy

Many betting strategies exist for golf fans, but some are better than others. All professional and profitable gamblers adopt strategies, and you must find the one that best suits your style and budget. Those best avoided are any promising guaranteed wins, fixed results, or inside information. In most cases, these are scams, and you should avoid them at all costs.

In all my years betting on sports and working in the gambling industry, I’ve learned there’s no such thing as a guaranteed winner or surefire way to beat the bookies. If there were, you wouldn’t hear about it until long after the entire sportsbook market had crashed. 

There may be no foolproof way to find winners each time you gamble, but there are some intelligent things you can do to greatly increase your chances of making a profit from your golf bets.

Study the stats

Studying the stats is one of the best ways to gamble on professional golf, especially the Majors. Do as much research as possible before parting with your hard-earned cash. Betting traders do the necessary homework before creating their odds, and you must be up-to-speed on the most important numbers to level the playing field.

Use the most reliable websites and apps to gain inside knowledge on sports betting. Here are six important areas to cover before betting:

• Study the form of the betting favorites and the underdogs.
• Check for patterns in the results from previous years.
• Revise the markets and look for the best way to bet.
• Visit a betting odds comparison app to get the best price on your pick.
• Look for the most generous welcome bonuses, free bets, and special offers.

I always look at the betting odds last to ensure the bookie’s picks don’t cloud my judgment. If you select a player and see they are also favorite in the betting, you know you’re reading an event like the online betting traders. If your research leads you to a pick with a big price attached, don’t let that put you off gambling.

Get expert betting picks

Properly researching your bets takes many hours, sometimes weeks, and is no easy task. It’s essential only to bet after you have all the relevant information at your disposal, but I understand not everyone has the time needed to pick through the numbers. If you’re pushed for time and can’t commit to researching a bet, why not allow the experts to step in?

Whop offers professional betting tips and advice from reliable handicappers with a proven track record of beating the bookies and making a profit on golf betting. The various sports picks communities are available at the touch of a button, with golf and sports picks available on your smartphone and home computer. Here are some of the benefits associated with using Whop for sports betting.

• Receive a well-researched bet on your smartphone.
• Browse the sports picks communities and find one that suits your style and budget.
• Search the tipster’s history, including their profit and loss for the season.
• Try new and interesting golf betting markets.
• Benefit from the user-friendly and modern Whop app.

4. Place your golf bet

When you’ve studied the latest golf stats and selected the player you wish to support, it’s time to place a wager using your smartphone or laptop. You can follow the steps below to streamline the process and ensure it’s both secure and fast. 

The process remains the same regardless of which tournament you’re betting on, the player you expect to win, the market you pick, or the platform used.

• Log in to your sportsbook app with the username and password.
• Search for golf in the sports navigation bar.
• Select the tournament you wish to bet on and then your chosen market.
• Click the odds attached to a pick to add it to your bet slip.
• Your golf bet is live, and a cash-out amount will appear on your receipt.

Five of the best golf betting markets

When searching for your next golf bet at a sportsbook app, you’ll face many options. The leading bookies offer a long list of pre-game and in-play bets and specials, meaning there’s something for everyone and a bet to suit all budgets. Finding the right bet can be challenging when faced with so many choices. Here are my five favorite golf betting markets.

Outright winner

The simplest way to bet on golf is to predict the outright winner of a competition, such as The Masters. Visit your betting app and browse the field before clicking the odds attached to your favored player. Input a stake and confirm. You’re now all set to cheer on your pick.

Betting on the outright winner is straightforward. You can pick a player and bet on them to win. If they do as expected and win the competition, you’ll land the returns promised. But if any other player in the field ends up with the trophy, your bet is a loser, and the bookmaker keeps your stake.

Hole-in-one

One of my favorite golf betting specials is the hole-in-one. With this bet, you pick a player to score a hole-in-one, and if they achieve it, you’ll land the returns. Bookmakers often offer large odds on this market as it doesn’t happen often, and a hole-in-one is rare, even for the professionals playing a par three.

If you’re looking for a bet with a great chance of making a profit, it’s probably best to look elsewhere. But if you’re after a bet with attractive odds that keep you involved in the play throughout, the hole-in-one market could brighten up your day.

Top-10 finish

Predicting the winner of a golf tournament is challenging due to the large field and demanding courses. Many bettors like to pick a winner and place a bet each way, but the top-10 finish market increases your chances of making a profit.

Select a player in the top-10 finish, input your stake, check, and confirm. You'll enjoy a return if your pick finishes anywhere between first and tenth, including ties. But if they finish 11th or above, you lose your stake. The odds aren’t as high as you’ll find in the outright betting, but this market improves your chances of winning.

Top American

Another really good bet available at most major sportsbooks is the top American market. Here, you choose from a list of American-born players and predict which will finish higher up the leaderboard. They don’t need to win the trophy for your bet to attract a profit as long as they perform better than the other Americans in the running.

Some players perform better at certain courses and on particular greens. That’s why it's important to know as much about a competition and course as possible, including the fairways, past winners, and hazards. If your player finishes first or is near the bottom of the leaderboard, you can still win, as long as no American records a lower score.

Top European

A bet similar to the top American is the top European. When betting on this market, you aim to predict which European-born player finishes in first place after 72 holes or higher up the list than the other Europeans involved. It’s a bet that allows you to avoid picking a champion and will give you an interest from the opening day to the final result. Golf bettors view it as a value-for-money play, and the odds are often worth winning.

Predicting the top European player is slightly more interesting than the top American as there are players from different countries with varying styles who prefer a range of courses. Which European will perform best at the next golf event broadcast live on television? You can have your say now using your smartphone.

Explore Whop for winning golf bets

We have arrived at the end of my article on how to bet on golf for Whop. I hope it gave you some interesting pointers on improving your game when gambling on one of the world’s most popular sports.

You now know how to bet on sports and the importance of a staking plan. But which players are worth backing in the next golf Major or competition broadcast on TV?

Whop can help with that.

Browse Whop now and find a sports betting community specializing in golf betting. You can then follow the handicapper's advice and place a bet or trust your instincts and select a player and market you think could boost your balance.

Golf betting FAQs

What’s the best betting strategy for golf?

Thoroughly researching the players, form, course, head-to-head scores, and past performances before striking a bet.

Where can I find expert picks?

The Whop Discover page boasts several useful betting communities run by gambling experts with a track record of profiting from golf bets.

Does golf betting offer good odds?

Due to the large fields in attendance, challenging courses, and unpredictable weather, bookmakers offer generous odds on several popular golf betting markets, including the outright winner of a Major.

Can I cash out my golf bets?

You can cash out golf bets on your laptop or smartphone at the touch of a button. Monitor the play and keep tabs on the cash out offered. If it’s in profit and your player performs well, grab the money or let the bet run.

How do I get a free golf bet today?

The top sportsbooks featured at Whop offer all new customers a welcome bonus and free bet when they create an account, deposit funds, and wager on golf.