Once the football season finally comes to an end with the Super Bowl in the books, avid sports bettors begin to turn their attention to a variety of different sporting events to fill the void. The NBA is probably the second-biggest betting league to the NFL at the professional level and college basketball becomes really big with bettors starting in February and running right through the month of March with the annual NCAA Tournament.
Golf has never been known as a big betting sport with the Las Vegas sportsbooks as well as all the offshore sportsbooks taking action online, but it could be one of the biggest betting sports there is when you get down to the true essence of how money is actually wagered on this game.
On the professional level, the betting action really heats up with the four Major tournaments starting with the Masters at Augusta National in early April. The final round of the US Open takes center stage every Father’s Day in June and, across the pond, the Open Championship in Great Britain brings that international flare that sports bettors are looking for. The final Major is the PGA Championship in August and mixed in between are a number of high-profile tournaments and special events such as the Rider Cup on even years and the President's Cup on odd-numbered years.
The tremendous growth of daily fantasy leagues for any number of sports including the PGA Tour have helped to expand the idea of wagering on golf, but this is still not the true essence of betting on this sport.
It all starts on the first tee of the local municipal golf course or neighboring country club every Saturday morning across the entire United States from early spring right through late fall. This is when the real golf betting takes place. Whether it is a better-ball bet for the front, back and total between pairings in a foursome or a friendly game of skins at a dollar a hole, the amount of money that is wagered on playing golf is staggering.
Even casual fans of this sport tend to add some betting action to their round every time four golfing buddies head out to play and the pros themselves are often a part of some major stakes matchups during the practice rounds leading up to that week’s event.
Sports bettors can wager on things such as an outright win, a Top 5 or Top 10 finish and on any number of head-to-head matchups at your favorite sportsbook or local bookie for every professional golf tournament. However, you would be amazed just how many bets are in place between the amateur hacks teeing it up at the thousands of local golf tournaments that take place every golfing season.
Betting on golf as a player is woven into the fabric of the game. Choking over a two-foot putt to win $5 from your buddy can be just as thrilling and nerve-racking as having $500 wagered on Jordan Spieth or Rory McIlroy winning another Major when they are leading by one or two strokes on the back nine of Sunday’s final round.
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