Golf betting can get as complicated as you like but the real experts in this sport stay well clear of confusion. Simple, profitable bet structures are the name of the game for expert golf betting fans – and Paddy’s here to show you how it’s done.
From straightforward accas to doing the right research, there are ways to get the most out of your golf bets.
This isn’t about picking random winners or unearthing rank outsiders. This Paddy Power guide is here to show you the various types of golf betting system available to those who want to dig deeper into the sport.
Golf Expert Tips
The below golf tips are designed for intermediate and expert punters who know how golf works and understand tournament formats. If you’re new to the sport then check out our golf betting guide for beginners here!
Harness Top 20 Accas
Let’s start with golf accumulators. You can throw loads of selections onto a Paddy Power acca and many punters like to do this in the days leading up to a tournament.
Of course, you can’t bet on multiple people to win the same competition. You can, however, back them to all finish in the top five, 10 or 20 of the field.
Top 20 golf accas are well worth considering. They’re ideal when backing lowly outsiders who don’t really stand a chance of winning the entire thing but who are still in good form.
They’re also perfect for throwing a group of short-priced favourites together and squeezing more value from them. The golf odds of Rory McIlroy placing in the top 20 at the Open will be incredibly short. But, throw him in with six others to finish well and suddenly your odds are more favourable.
Track Form when Cut Betting
Betting on the cut is an increasingly valuable option for many punters. The idea is you can safely bet on players at either end of the scale: either they’re dead certs to make the cut or absolutely won’t get to Saturday. Throw all the certs into an acca and you can make hefty profit.
However, cut betting outside of the extremes requires punters to track the form of middle-priced players. If someone is regularly shooting below 70 on rounds in the months leading up to a tournament then they’re unlikely to bomb in the opening two rounds of the next one.
Betting on the cut during majors also requires research. Corey Conners, for example, misses the cut half the time he plays a major. Yet he regularly posts top-10 finishes at Augusta. He is a good bet to make the weekend at the Masters but not the US Open.
Match Players to the Course
Connors is also an example of matching a player to a course. His stylish stroke play is well suited for Augusta National, which is more an adventure playground for golfers than a golf course.
He is also fairly well matched on links courses but there are certainly other players – usually European, and more specifically British and Irish – who are better adapted to breezy links courses. Players are more tactical and need to read the conditions better.
Meanwhile, most American PGA courses are big-thwacking landscapes that champion heavy hitters. With good weather for most of the year, many US players grow up not having to deal with the varying conditions that the Brits and Irish get used to.
Use #WhatOddsPaddy
#WhatOddsPaddy allows users to ask Paddy Power for a particular price on an outcome of their choosing. For example, you might ask what the odds are on Rory McIlroy winning the Open, Dustin Johnson finishing third, and Sergio Garcia failing to make the cut. We’ll throw all eventualities together and offer out the odds!
Or, you could ask what the odds are on 17 players sinking a ball in the water at Hole 12 of Augusta National on the first day of the Masters. Let us do the hard work calculating the odds so you don’t have to!
Monitor Nationalities
We usually offer up markets such as ‘Top Englishman’ and ‘Top Australian’ during majors and other high-profile tournaments. These can be hugely profitable if you do your research and monitor the field.
It’s rarely advised to go big on a top American because there are usually a lot of them for PGA events, making the market a total lottery.
Again, tracking the form and matching players to the course will help unearth the right picks. The beauty of betting via the nationalities is the field is greatly reduced for you, making it easier to pick out a winner.
Chase Value
The live golf odds allow punters to chase high-value bets and track their progress over a tournament. You can keep an eye on the big names, back them when they sink a shot into the water, and lock in a higher price that subsequently falls when they respond with three straight birdies.
Value is king for golf betting pros because it’s here where you will earn your base-level returns. Small changes to the odds can make a big difference, especially over the course of a tournament.
Many pro punters will assess the pre-tournament markets and back a few big outsiders with small stakes, on the knowledge that a solid first round will see their odds tumble.
This kind of thinking comes with natural risk but the logic is that the reward (a big win) outweighs the stakes.
THE PADDY POWER GUIDE TO RESPONSIBLE GAMBLING – EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW