Why Golf is a Popular Betting Sport By Matt Seban

Why Golf is a Popular Betting Sport

By Matt Seban

The success of the online sports betting market cannot be denied. Sports fans seem to really love the idea of wagering on games from the comfort of their home, or on their way to work. Of course, as with any industry, certain markets stand out. When it comes to sports betting, many could probably guess what the most popular betting choices are.

Football/soccer is at the top, followed closely by basketball. Many might be surprised to learn that cricket is a big one as well. What will certainly surprise many is to learn that golf odds are actually among the top 10 most wagered on, at least online. The question then arises, why is golf such a popular betting sport?

General Popularity

The first reason is also the most obvious; golf betting is popular, because the sport itself is popular. As things stand right now, there are over a million people who follow the game passionately. With over a million fans, golf is more popular than volleyball, handball, water polo, and more. While it can't compete with the likes of basketball, cricket, and soccer, it is still one of the ten most watched sports in the world.

When a game is as popular as that, the betting enthusiasts will not be far behind. Popularity breeds betting, simply because there are more options. When more people wager, it creates opportunities for higher stakes, thus creating greater rewards. Of course, it is always important to remember that we should be betting responsibly, so never wager above your means.

Year-Round Opportunities

Unlike soccer, basketball, or cricket, golf is a year round sport. It shares a lot of traits in common with tennis, as there is a major golf tournament taking place at any point during a 12-month period. That means that betting fans have year-round opportunities to place a wager, unlike with the aforementioned games, where they can only bet during the season.

Naturally, the increased opportunities for betting drive up desire among sportsbook customers. Being able to wager whenever you want during the year, certainly beats having to wait months before your wager can pay off. On top of that, golf wagers are just as diverse as those for any other sports. This brings us to our next, and final point.

The Diversity of Choice

When it comes to golf, gamblers are spoiled for choice. The most popular type of wager, certainly, is the match bet. This entails placing a bet on the player that you think will win the tournament. However, it does not end there. Indeed, golf betting fans have a lot more options to pick from.

For example, they can make future bets. As the name suggests, these are wagers placed on events that will take place in the distant future. For example, you could make a wager on the tournament's outcome, months before the finale. The risk is high, but the rewards are as well.

Of course, there are also prop bets. Rather than wagering on the outcome of a tournament, players can bet on whether a certain thing will occur during a game. Such as "will a player get a hole-in-one?" or

"What will the most common type of club be in this game?"

Revised: 02/24/2025 - Article Viewed 397 Times

About: Matt Seban

Matt Seban is a turf aficionado, golf travel junkie, and self-proclaimed fairway repair specialist. By day, he runs a successful landscaping business, making the world greener one yard at a time. By night (or whenever he can sneak away), he moonlights as a golf travel writer, covering course openings, redesigns, and turf management techniques with the enthusiasm of a man who truly believes grass is his spirit animal.

With over 20 years of turf management experience—specializing in athletic field turf—Matt has a deep appreciation for the delicate balance of maintaining perfect playing surfaces. He’s been known to roam fairways armed with a bottle of seed and sand, patching divots like a wandering golf course doctor. Rumor has it, every time he takes a divot, a little piece of his soul dies.

Matt has played golf in more than 30 states and teed it up on over half of America’s Top 100 Public Courses. He also has a deep appreciation for golf course architecture, especially from the Golden Age of design in the 1920s. When he’s not repairing divots or admiring strategic bunker placements, you might find him competing in hickory golf tournaments, dressed in period attire and wielding century-old clubs with a surprising amount of skill.

Whether he's diving into the nuances of classic course design or debating the best strains of bentgrass, Matt brings a unique perspective to golf travel writing—one that’s equal parts historian, turf geek, and weekend warrior. Follow along as he shares his insights, adventures, and (hopefully) some perfectly manicured fairways.