BRITISH BETTING & GAMING SITES

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GOLF - INTRODUCTION AND BETTING TACTICS.

An article from BETFAIR BETTING EXCHANGE for British Betting and Gaming Sites.

Golf is a truly international sport, with only a couple of weeks off each year and at least two golf tournaments running each week from Thursday to Sunday, betting opportunities are endless.

Whilst the most popular tournaments are contested on the European and US PGA Tours, Betfair also covers the Champions and LPGA Tours plus selected events from other tours during the year.

Tournaments

As with most sports, the strength of events varies throughout the world and throughout the year. The big tournaments in golf are called ‘the majors’ - the Masters in April, the US Open in June, the (British) Open in July and finally in August the USPGA. Entry conditions vary for each major, but these are the highest profile events – players from all over the world dream to compete in them. Only the (US) Masters is held at the same course, Augusta National in Georgia, USA, the other majors are played at different clubs each year.

The majority of golf events are tournaments contested by individuals, mostly in stroke format (lowest total score over 3/4/5 days wins) but sometimes in matchplay format as well. This is where two players contest each hole; the winner of the most holes goes through to the next round. However the highest profile event in golf, certainly from a European perspective, is the bi-annual Ryder Cup. This three-day team event is competed for by teams from Europe and the USA. In 2008, it is America’s turn to host - this prestigious tournament will take place at Valhalla Golf Club, Kentucky.

Markets

Like so many sports on Betfair, the beauty of betting on golf is that the majority of markets are in-play right up until the last putt on Sunday. The main markets offered are outright winner, top 5 and 10 finishes. For all majors and some tournaments on the US tour we offer markets on top Australian, European etc and ‘Specials’ such as group betting, winner without the ‘Big 4 / 5 or 6’ and ‘hole in one’ markets. In the case of Tiger Woods, most weeks when he plays a winner without Woods market is offered as he is typically the clear favourite. If a player is several shots ahead with one or two rounds to play, a market without this player will be loaded to maintain interest.

Each tournament has a Make the Cut market and a selection of match bets which are offered between two golfers of interest over the whole tournament. Almost all tournament markets go in-play at the start of the first day. During the majors, more comprehensive TV coverage enables us to turn selected two-or three-ball markets in-play as well.

The package of golf markets on Betfair is extremely comprehensive with good liquidity across most markets.

Golf Betting

Of all sports golf probably has the most variables; conditions are never the same, not only from week to week at different courses but from shot to shot during a round, any golfer will have stories of a little gust or lack of wind coming between them and a career-best shot. This is no different for the pros; they are subject to such twists of fate too!

When betting on golf there are many factors which must be considered. In many sports it is largely possible to simply assess a player or team’s current form and base your wager accordingly. Just as a football team is subject to home and away conditions, or horses affected by distance and track conditions, golfers have many variables too. Form is important but just because a player played well last week in the wind at St. Andrews doesn’t mean that he will play target golf in Florida well and win this week!

Factors to consider:

Do the weather conditions suit a certain golfer? Some players like Paul Lawrie (winner of The Open at Carnoustie in 1999) prevail in adverse weather. Several golfers are experienced wind players, and thrive in such conditions.

What are the tee times for your player in the first two rounds? Most tournaments release this information on the Monday or Tuesday before a tournament and it can have a major impact! Look at the (British) Open - play starts at 6.30 am with the last group teeing off at nearly 4pm, spiked greens, wind picking up off the sea, slower play and light all have to be considered...not really fair is it?

Does a course require a particular ball flight or shape? Augusta was traditionally seen as a course which suited a player with a high right-to-left ball flight before it was ‘Tiger proofed’...

It may seem obvious to say some but courses demand accurate iron play, recorded as greens in regulation (GIR) or put a premium on an excellent short game or course management. Players with such traits do better at certain courses.

Does a golfer play well at a certain time of the year in a certain set of tournaments such as the West Coast Swing where you find one player may perform better year in, year out?

How big are the greens? It makes sense that a course with smaller greens will mean less reliance on putting stats. Has the course been modified since last year?

Which players are local to a course, did they grow up or attend college here and know all of the course’s intricacies?

The list goes on and on...driving distance, driving accuracy, average putts per GIR. Although there is no perfect course for an individual, certain players do tend to migrate up the leaderboard in certain conditions or at a given course. A clear example, aside of Tiger Woods anytime he steps on a golf course, is Stuart Appleby at the Mercedes Championship in Hawaii (winner in 2004, 2005, 2006)

Golf betting in-play

As stated the popularity of betting on golf markets with Betfair is due to the markets being in-play. This allows trading in-running, you can lock in a profit if your selection is going well but you don’t think he will win, or if you’d rather not sweat it out on his risky putting. You’re no longer restricted to holding onto your ticket hoping he wins, and enduring a stressful Sunday evening as shots fritter away. There are numerous cases of golfers being matched at 1.01 in the final round and losing (Ernie Els being a recent one) and winners being matched at 1000.

Betting in-play means you can wait to get involved until the latter stages of the tournament. You can back a golfer going into the final round who you know closes out well or lay them if you think they are a choker! You can also swap/ adjust your position on the market as you see fit.

Betting in-play on golf though does come with a major word of warning! Be careful with information sources. While most tournaments are televised, action is usually happening all over the course at the same time. It is physically impossible for every shot to be broadcast live, so it becomes up to the producer’s discretion who gets priority. The UK channels may favour Justin Rose while the American broadcaster is following Tiger Woods. The pictures you see ‘live’ on screen may have happened five seconds or even two minutes ago. Golf is popular around the world - just because you are watching the same pictures as everyone else in the UK, don’t assume you are only betting against British punters.

There are a couple of famous occasions where punters have over-reacted to a mistake on a website scoreboard, which most people rely on for live scoring. Weekend hackers may be prone to the odd double-figure score, but a professional racking up a 13 on a par 3 is highly likely to be a mistake!

Another key point to remember when betting in-play is that people drastically over react. This can happen in every sport, it is human nature. For example if a player lands in a bunker coming down the stretch, his price can drastically drift. In many cases the professionals would actually rather be in there than have a long putt or a chip from the side of the green. Some players do actually play for bunkers (the conditions are more consistent given a good lie) allowing much of the break on a green to be taken out. Although only a small percentage of bunker shots are holed, very few pros fail to get up and down yet odds fluctuations suggest otherwise.