Top Golf Betting Sites

Golf is one of the most popular sports in the world, for players, spectators and bettors alike. With plenty of top events taking place throughout the year, there’s no end to the betting possibilities. Of course, you’ll need to pick out a top sports betting site before you start betting on the green. That’s where we come in.

We’ve rounded up the very best golf betting sites around, along with the top bonuses on offer. Whether you fancy some live golf betting or a punt on a future major, our recommended bookies offer a whole range of markets and the most competitive golf odds. To help you get started, let’s tee-off and delve deeper into what to look out for when you bet on golf online.

How We Review Golf Online Betting Sites

At Compare.bet, we review bookmakers to ensure they offer a safe and enjoyable online betting experience, and you can browse our latest great finds at the top of this page. Here’s what we look for when we decide if an online golf betting site makes the grade. 

• Licensing and Safety – In the UK, legal sportsbooks are licensed and regulated by the Gambling Commission. This licence assures that a bookmaker is safe to use, so it’s the first thing we confirm is in place. We only recommend licensed bookies, so there’s no room for manoeuvre with this one. 
• Betting Odds and Markets – We want you to enjoy the best golf betting odds and the most exciting betting markets, so our reviews include a look at how bookies do in this regard. Top golf betting sites offer competitive odds, plenty of enhanced price deals and a wide range of golf betting markets on which to place your bets.
  
• Bonus Offers – It’s not unusual for bookies to feature promo pages packed with bonuses. Our experts dig deep into the T&Cs to ensure you’re not only getting a fair deal, but also so you’re up to speed with the pros and cons of these offers. That way, you can find and enjoy the bonuses that suit you best. 
  
• Payment Methods – We expect the best golf betting sites to offer a range of payment options, so we head to the cashier page to see what’s available. Debit cards, Trustly, e-wallets and prepaid cards are among the options we want to see. When it comes to payouts, we ensure they’re as fast and fuss-free as possible. 
• Site Design – The best sites look great and are easy to get around. Conducting betting site reviews gives us the ideal opportunity to see how a site’s design looks and feels on a range of devices, so we can give you a good idea of what to expect when you sign up. 
• Mobile Compatibility – Plenty of punters prefer to bet on mobile, so we ensure that all our featured sites offer a handy mobile version of their main desktop site. Some of our best picks also offer a native mobile app. Due to perks like push notifications for bonus codes, these golf betting apps are the preferred option for many bettors. 
• Customer Support – Great support is indicative that a bookie cares about its customers, so we check out what’s on offer as part of our bookmaker review process. The best sites offer live chat, which is often available 24/7, along with options like on-site contact forms and email and telephone support.

2023 US Open Betting

As one of the four golf majors — along with the Masters, the British Open, and the PGA Championship — the US Open is one of the most eagerly anticipated events in the golfing calendar. It takes place at a number of courses across the United States, many of which are picked for their difficulty. Players must contend with narrow fairways, thick rough, strategically placed hazards, and fast, undulating greens if they want to claim the top spot. 

The field consists of around 156 players. Exemptions are given to the top-ranked pros and amateurs, but a number of qualifiers take place to fill the remaining spots in the lead-up to the tournament. 

The US Open is a stroke play tournament, meaning players are scored based on the cumulative number of strokes. Four rounds are played in the US Open — 72 holes in total. A cut is made after the first two rounds, eliminating a portion of the field while the rest continue to compete over the final 36 holes. The player with the lowest cumulative score by the end is crowned the winner. 

English golfer Matt Fitzpatrick lifted the championship trophy in 2022 — beating Scottie Schaeffler and Will Zalatoris by just one stroke for a total of 6 under par — and taking home a juicy $3,150,000 prize purse. Rory McIlroy holds the record score for the US Open, at 268 aggregate, which he achieved in 2011. 

2023’s instalment of the US Open will take place from 15–18 June on the North Course of Los Angeles Country Club in California.

US Open Betting Offers

You’ll see a huge variety of promos pop up in the run-up to the US Open. There’s nothing stopping you from signing up for a new bookie to enjoy free bet offers for the big event — though if you’re already a customer of a top golf betting site like Paddy Power or Betfred, there are plenty of US Open betting offers available to existing customers. 

• Enhanced Sign Up Offers – The US Open is one of the hottest events at golf online betting sites, and you might catch bookies drawing in punters with an enhanced sign-up offer. Bonuses will often be something like an extra free bet to spend on the US Open, an odds boost offer, or a money-back deal. 
• Free Bets – Free bets are always a big draw at online bookies, and you’ll find plenty of them about. These won’t be just for new customers — existing players are often able to nab bet-and-get deals like a £5 in-play or prop bet for placing a £10 futures bet on the US Open.
• Enhanced Odds – Before you bet on the US Open, it’s worth seeing if your bookie’s offering enhanced odds on any particular markets. Some golf betting sites will even give you odds boost tokens to use on any bet you like — perfect if you think Brooks Koepka could land his third win by fending off world number one Jon Rahm.
• Extra Places – Got a hunch a golfer will perform well, but not necessarily win? Each way betting is the ideal solution. While five places paid on the US Open winner was common in the past, the best golf betting sites now offer as many as eight or more, giving you more chances to land a winner for the same stake.
• Bonus Codes – If you’ve been loyal to a particular betting site, or bet on golf on the site in the past, you might find yourself in line for a special betting bonus for the US Open. You may see a bonus code delivered to your email address or spot a special offer in your account notifications.

Getting Started

Thanks to golf’s global popularity, you can bet on it all year round. The most prestigious events are the four majors: the Masters, the US Open, the British Open and the PGA Championship. There are also international contests, such as the four World Golf Championship (WGC) events and the Ryder Cup. This famous tournament takes place every two years and sees the best from the US face off against Europe’s finest, making for some thrilling match ups.

The fun definitely doesn’t stop there, though. With over 20 professional tours, there are loads of tournaments to try your luck on. The PGA tour is the biggest, featuring the top players like Justin Rose, Brooks Koepka and Dustin Johnson. The European tour is also right up there, while the LPGA, PGA Tour Champions and the Asian Tour are part of a growing list of other circuits providing punters with additional action at the bookies.

Here’s a rundown of the main events you can take a punt on at the best golf betting sites:

Scoring in Golf

The objective of golf is pretty simple — complete each hole in the fewest possible strokes. There are two types of scoring used in professional golf tournaments:

• Stroke Play – The most common way to score a round of golf, stroke play aggregates each player’s number of strokes across each hole. Whichever player completes the course in the least number of strokes is the winner. The Masters is one example of a tournament scored with stroke play. 
• Match Play – Found in team events like the Ryder Cup, match play awards points on a hole-by-hole basis. To win a hole, a player or team must complete it in the fewest strokes. Some consider match play to be more exciting than stroke play. As the scores on previous holes don’t matter, this format allows for players to recover from a poor performance on a specific hole. 

Birdies and Bogeys – Par Explained 

Every hole in golf has a designated ‘par’ — the number of strokes a skilled golfer is expected to take to sink the ball. Most holes have a par of 3, 4, or 5. You’ll also see round par and tournament par, which is the total par across a course or contest, respectively. 

Par is used as a benchmark for scoring, with players completing holes ‘over’, ‘under’, or ‘at’ par. For example, a golfer who completes a 4-par hole in three strokes is ‘1 under par’, also known as a birdie.

Here’s a rundown of golf scoring terms and what they mean:

• Condor: -4 = 4 strokes under par
• Albatross: -3 = 3 strokes under par
• Eagle: -2 = 2 strokes under par
• Birdie: -1 = 1 stroke under par
• Par: 0 = at par
• Bogey: +1 = 1 stroke over par
• Double Bogey: +2 = 2 strokes over par
• Triple Bogey: +3 = 3 strokes over par

What can I Bet On?

While betting on an outright winner is a great place to start if you’re new to golf betting, it’s not the only wager you can make. Read on to discover the different markets offered at the best golf betting sites.

Of course, it’s wise to do a bit of research before jumping in with a bet. When choosing who or what to back, you may want to try the following:

• Study historic and recent performance of players.
• Understand the tournament format.
• Check the weather conditions, as these have a heavy impact on the match.
• Consider backing the favourite, or go with an underdog for longer odds. 
• Explore the different markets available to find the best value.

You’ll find more golf betting tips further down the page.

Golf Betting Markets

Punters certainly aren’t short of choice when it comes to betting markets at the top betting sites. Here’s a look at some of the most popular:

• Outright – An outright bet is simply a punt on which player you think will win a tournament.
• Each way – Best-known in horse racing, an each-way wager is made up of two bets: to win and to place. This gives you a chance of netting some cash, even if the golfer you back doesn’t win – providing they finish in one of the stated places. Of course, in such instances, you’ll only earn a fraction of the payout for a winning bet.
• To place – Here you’re betting on a golfer to place within a certain ranking, such as top 10 or top 20, making it a safer bet. Just don’t expect to find particularly generous odds on this market.
• Round betting – This is a bet on which player you think will top the leaderboard after a certain round, such as first-round leader.
• To make/miss the cut – In golf, the “cut” is the number of points that splits the players that progress from those that exit a tournament after a certain round, so you can bet on who’s going to make it through or head home early.
• Head to head – A head to head bet is where you wager on which player will achieve the best score on a particular hole.
• Top points scorer – For some tournaments, such as the Ryder Cup, you can take a punt on which player will score the highest total number of points.
• Live golf betting – You can also bet on golf as the action’s underway, thanks to live golf betting sites. As golf isn’t as fast-paced as other sports like basketball, you’ll have plenty of time to assess the in-play action and plan your next move.
• Futures – As the name suggests, here you’re betting on a future event. For example, you can bet on the winner of next year’s Open Championship, which is basically an outright bet but you’ll have higher odds as there’s greater risk involved.
• Player specials – These are bets on the performance of a specific player. Examples of player special bets include Rory McIlroy not to win a tour event, or Tiger Woods to win three majors this year.
• Hole-in-one bet – This is a wager on whether a golfer will make a hole in one in a particular tournament.

Picking a Winner

Golf events often feature a large number of players — over 100 at some tournaments — so it’s fair to say that picking a winner isn’t always easy. The ‘horses for courses’ cliché often applies more to golf than many other sports and knowing your stuff can help you make smart golf bets. With that in mind, we’ve put together some tips below to help you out.

• Check Recent Results and Statistics
  The world rankings and golf betting odds can be a good place to start when you’re trying to pick a winner, but these are far from the be-all and end-all. For example, Dustin Johnson was the world number one for most of 2018, but only won three of the 20 tournaments he entered that year.
• Check the Weather Forecast
  When it comes to sports like football and rugby, bettors must weigh up factors like recent form and player statistics to get the best chance of landing some returns. With golf, you’ll also have to account for other factors, such as weather conditions and the course. Certain players loathe playing links golf, whereas others detest Augusta, where you need to be accurate off the tee.
• Consider Betting on Less Popular Events
  As you can imagine, it’s major tournaments like the US Open and the Masters that typically attract the most punters at online golf betting sites, but these aren’t necessarily your best bets. In recent years, several of Europe’s leading stars have started playing more events in Asia. You may well find better value away from the biggest competitions, so keep your eyes open for who is playing where and when.

Grab a Bankroll Boost

As a new customer, you can get your online golf betting into full swing by claiming a welcome bonus from your online bookmaker. And once this has run dry, you’ll be able to take advantage of ongoing promotions at the best golf betting sites. These bonuses come in a few different formats which we’ve explained below.

Matched Deposit Bonuses

A number of golf betting sites offer matched deposit deals, where you can bag a bonus worth a percentage of your first deposit. How does it work? Once you sign up and make your qualifying deposit, you’ll receive bonus credit which can be used to place bets. 

This bonus credit is separate from your real money balance. While the bet credit itself can’t be withdrawn, resulting winnings are yours to keep — provided you’ve met any extra terms like wagering requirements. 

• 10bet offers new players a 50% matched deposit up to £50. That means if you deposit £100, you’ll receive £50 in bonus credit to use at the site. 

Free Bets

Free bets are the deal you’re most likely to come across. These are bonus bets you’ll receive after making a qualifying deposit or wager. The free bet is usually for a fixed amount — say £5 or £10 — and can be used to wager on eligible markets that meet the minimum odds. Typically, the stake isn’t returned if your bet wins, although the profit is yours once any wagering requirements are met. 

• New customers at BetStorm can receive £30 in free bets when they sign up and make their first bet of £10 using promo code ‘SB30’. Free bet winnings must be wagered 1x before they can be withdrawn. 

Existing Customer Promotions

Thankfully, the fun doesn’t stop once you’ve used up your welcome bonus. Lots of sportsbooks offer regular promotions, so you’ll never be short of a freebie. There’s often a bit more diversity when it comes to offers for existing players: 

• Some bookies also offer special golf bonuses for big events, such as extended placing on each-way bets. 
• Enhanced golf odds are another popular promotion, where you can get price boosts on certain markets and potentially bag some extra winnings.
• Reload bonuses give you a chance to get some extra value next time you add funds to your betting wallet, often given as deposit matches or free bets. 
• Cashback is highly sought after by regular bettors. With this bonus, you’ll receive a portion of your deposits or losses back as real cash or bet credit. Sometimes you’ll see sport-specific cashback offers, such as 10% cashback on losing golf bets during the US Open.

Bet on Golf, On the Go

Gone are the days when online golf betting was restricted to desktop computers. Now you can bet on golf whenever you want, wherever you want, thanks to mobile golf betting. You’ll have access to the same golf odds, markets, banking options and bonuses when you bet on your mobile, so you definitely won’t be missing out on anything.

Top bookies also tend to have the best mobile betting apps, which make sports betting faster and easier- perfect for wagering when you’re on the go. On top of that, golf betting apps have handy benefits like push notifications so you’re kept in the know on the latest top betting bonuses and live golf betting markets.

Try a New Golf Betting Site

Wagering with a more established name may seem like the safest option, but there are a lot of reasons why you should give a new betting site a try. The freshest names on the block can offer new customers some of the most player-friendly welcome bonuses in the industry, as well as some pretty innovative promotions for existing players. What’s more, the best new betting sites will offer all this alongside exciting features you would expect to see at the most well-known brands, such as cash out, live streaming and bet builders.

Bet on the Golf In-Play

Golf is a fairly slow-paced sport, but it is also one where the slightest mistake on one hole can entirely change the outcome of a tournament. As such, you will have more time than with other sports to pick your moment and lay a bet on the in-play market. Say the odds-on favourite hits a fortunate birdie on one hole, this could be an indication that their luck is about to run out. As such, your money may well be best placed on someone else.

Payment Methods at Golf Online Betting Sites

The best golf online betting sites offer a range of payment options on the cashier page, so you should have no problem finding one to suit. Here’s a roundup of some of the most common banking options, along with a quick run down of their pros and cons for bettors.

Other Sports at Golf Betting Sites

Golf betting sites don’t just take wagers on the action on the fairways and greens, but also on a range of other top sports. We’ve rounded up three of the most popular below, so you can get an idea of what’s on offer. Just be sure to fully understand how to bet on each different sport before you risk any of your hard-earned cash!

Tennis

Events like the ATP and WTP world tours mean that tennis betting markets are available all year round. However, excitement reaches fever pitch when Wimbledon or the Australian, French or US Open roll around. These Grand Slams are the tennis equivalent of the Golf Majors, so they’re a great time to pick up extra bonuses. 

Football

The beautiful game needs little introduction, and you can find football betting markets at all of our featured bookies. There’s Premier League action to look forward to, of course, though football leagues and tournaments like Italy’s Serie A, the UEFA Champions League and the Copa América ensure there are chances to enjoy a flutter on the footie right throughout the year. 

Rugby

Another sport to serve up year-round betting options at our recommended bookies is rugby. From the Gallagher Premiership and the United Rugby Championships to the Six Nations and the World Cup, there’s no shortage of rugby events to bet on. As with other sports, the best bookies up the excitement with rugby bonus offers for big-ticket games and tourneys. 

Sign Up to a Top Golf Betting Site

Now you’re all up to scratch on the basics, it’s time to get out there and see whether your golf betting is par for the course. Whether you’re looking for the best bonuses, most competitive golf odds or in-play betting markets, our list of the top golf betting sites has got you covered. Simply compare, sign up and start betting on golf today!