This comprehensive guide to the best golf betting sites in the UK compares the highest-ranked bookmakers around. Take a few minutes to read through it and you’ll know what markets are available, which bookies offer the best odds, and where you can get the most generous bonuses. Then, for the benefit of new golf betting fans, we’ll highlight some of the biggest events to bet on.
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What’s that? You’re in a rush and worried that you’ll miss the tee off? In that case, let’s take you straight to the 19th hole by presenting our list of the ten best golf betting sites operating in the UK.
So far, we have simply shoved on our plus fours and shaken hands with the best golf betting online sites in the UK. Now it’s time to head to the first tee and get to know our golfing betting partners a tiny bit better. Here are mini-reviews of our favourite places in the UK online to bet on golf.
One thing you will notice about a few of the names on our list of the leading golf betting online sites is that they sound familiar. That’s only to be expected as these sites have had the chance to hone their golf betting options for at least two decades, so surely they’ve got it right by now. And at William Hill (first established in 1934) you’ll find a site that gets things right, time and time again.
One key feature at William Hill that is bound to excite most golf betting fans is the range of golf bet bonus deals available. These include enhanced odds, ‘Scratch of the Day’ which is a daily scratchcard with bonus offers, and ‘The Bonus Drop’ – a free daily game that could see you win an instant prize. The golf bet options here are exceptional, with Open Championship golf betting prices (and odds for other majors) being made available months in advance.
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PaddyPower has been championing golf betting ever since it first sprang into existence in 1988. Previously something of a controversial brand, PaddyPower has toned it down of late, mainly due to the tighter handcuffs shoved onto the wrists of UK betting sites by the United Kingdom Gambling Commission. But Paddy still has a sense of humour, which is nice to see.
This betting site is still among the best in the UK (it certainly not being ‘pants’) for golf, and you can add a little bit of power to your golf betting with Paddy’s Power Prices. These are enhanced odds deals for countless golf tournaments and players. The coverage of golf at PaddyPower is just as impressive as you could want it to be, with both major and minor competitions covered. Outrights are available over a year in advance!
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There’s no doubt that bet365 is the UK’s leading betting site as more people use it than any other betting site. If this was a general betting guide, we’d put bet365 at the number one spot. But our topic here is golf and we think there are better sites than bet365 for golfing bets, although that number is not exactly excessive! We have quibbles about bet365 in general, including this betting site’s lacklustre look.
Visual appeal aside, bet365 is a very good place for your golfing bets. We do notice though that golf doesn’t make it to the ‘top sports’ list here. That means you’ll have to head down to the A-Z of sports to find it. If you hunt around you’ll soon find options such as US Open golf betting markets, and indeed coverage of all majors and tours. We do wish the look of the site was less uninspiring, though.
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There are two types of spread betting. The US version is ‘betting on the spread’ which is a kind of handicap betting. The UK version is ‘spread betting’ which is akin to financial and commodities trading. SpreadEx is the UK’s top betting site for the latter. Because golf is a game of high numbers, it is ideally suited to spread betting, which is a way of betting in which you earn more for correct predictions, but lose more for incorrect ones.
Spread betting can be hard to understand, so it’s good news that SpreadEx has an entire education centre about it. We are not going to go into a detailed list of free golf betting tips for spread betting here, so if you are interested in it, head over to SpreadEx’s amazing site. Oh, and if spread betting is not something you are interested in, still head to SpreadEx as the site offers fixed odds betting markets too!
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The USA has given us countless great golfers over the years. Consider Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Tom Watson, Arnold Palmer and Bobby Jones to name but five. It hasn’t given UK bettors nearly as many great betting sites, but that changed with the 2023 introduction of BetMGM to our shores. One of the biggest legal betting sites in the US, BetMGM has hopped the pond to open a UK version of itself, albeit one run by LeoVegas.
Americans are crazy about golf, and US PGA betting on the three majors held in the States (Masters, US Open, PGA) generates millions of dollars. Unsurprisingly, coverage of golf at the UK version of BetMGM is extremely good, with decent coverage of every professional global tournament, both pre-event and in-play. BetMGM is a little ‘lite’ on the bonus side of things though, as they currently seem to be concentrating more on their casino offerings.
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BetUK has never been shy of the fact that it’s a British site for British people. It has been around for over a decade now and has increased its market share considerably over the past year or two, thanks partly to a major rebrand and repackaging. We might need to whisper this, but BetUK is not run by a British company! While you recoil in horror we can advise you not to worry about it, because BetUK is operated by LeoVegas. That’s right – the very same peeps who run BetMGM.
Those revelations aside, let’s look at how BetUK fairs for golf. Well, naturally it’s a very good place for golfing bets, else it would not be on this list. The site has exceptional options for live golf betting, plus pre-event betting too. One downvote though – for some reason, BetUK divides its golf options into ‘all leagues’ and ‘popular leagues’. Leagues?
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We are willing to bet that Fred Done – the founder, in 1967, of the betting shop empire that would eventually become Betfred – has been on a few golf courses in his time. Betfred remains an important betting name on UK high streets for those who still find online betting a little daunting. The Betfred name is synonymous with betting in the UK, and as golf is one of the most popular UK sports, you’d expect golf coverage here to be exceptional.
Well, we wouldn’t go that far. For a start, the design of Betfred’s online site is a little messy for our tastes, and it’s in dire need of an upgrade. It’s a bit insipid too, but once you’ve found the ‘A-Z’ of sports and scrolled down to ‘G’, the site’s excellent golf betting online options are revealed. Get competitive odds on all current events, and all upcoming majors. You may get ‘Daily Price Boosts’ from Fred, but these seem to be the preserve of football, racing and darts.
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We’d love to know how Fafabet came up with its name and why. It’s a British site run by TaiChi Tech and it’s based in Reading, which most definitely is in the UK – the last time we checked our atlases, anyhow. Fafabet is the only sports betting site that TaiChi runs, although there is an Irish version of Fafabet too.
The golf betting options here are excellent. We particularly like the fact that golfing events are filtered by nation. This feature is a real bonus if you primarily follow the UK golf scene when it comes to betting on golf. You will also be able to bet on major events such as the PGA, UK Open, US Open and Masters long before the first ball is struck from the tee in any of them. In-play options are good too, although golf-centred promotions here seem to be non-existent.
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Joe Coral (fun fact: originally called Joseph Kagarlitski) founded his bookmaking business in 1926 and by 1979 had turned it into Coral Leisure Group, which included holiday camps, bingo clubs and casinos. Coral is now actually a joint company with Ladbrokes.
Coral never got into running golf clubs, but in terms of online golf betting sites, that barely matters. The golfing betting options here are impressive, with full coverage of all majors and both men’s and women’s tours. Bet on pre-tournament and live golf with ease, and look out for special bonuses. One extra reason to love Coral is that has great golf betting odds.
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If you have been paying attention then you should have noticed that Ladbrokes was mentioned a moment ago as being a joint company with Coral. Ladbrokes was originally formed back in 1886 (still younger than the UK Open Championship which was first held in 1860) but has been part of ‘Ladbroke Coral’ since 2018. There’s very little to choose between Ladbrokes and Coral, but we’ve placed Coral a little higher up the list as we think that site is designed better.
The Ladbrokes golf betting section is very good. One thing to look out for are the ‘#GetAPrice’ Specials. These are unique golfing bets that you simply won’t find elsewhere. For example, Ladbrokes were offering odds on Charlie ‘Son of Tiger’ Woods to win a golfing major before the age of 22. ‘So what?’ you may ask, but at the time of this review being penned, Charlie Woods was only 14!
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If you just want the facts about the leading places online in the UK where you can bet on golf, then we shall sink that birdie. Below you’ll find a comparison table of all the golf betting sites that we recommend.
Betting Site | Live Betting | Cash Out | Live Streaming | Golf Specials | Extra Places | Shot Tracker |
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All betting sites have their differences, so what is it that makes a site a good place to bet on golf? There are several key attributes that we look for when compiling our list of the best golf betting sites. The main ones are as follows:
Any betting site that wants to make the cut and appear on our list of the best must have extensive golf coverage. Many sites give full coverage to the majors, but what about the PGA, European and LPGA tours? Because golf is an all-year-round sport, there’s almost always an event taking place somewhere no matter the time of day, or the day of the year. The best sites that we recommend will always have something for you to bet on.
All betting sites in the UK offer some kind of welcome bonus or promotion, and many have ongoing bonuses too. What we especially like is any online golf betting site that offers golf-specific promotions. For example, we’re impressed by bookies that pay out on extra ‘each way’ places for final round leaderboards. Of course, we also appreciate general bonuses that can be used effectively by golf bettors.
There are plenty of best golf betting site options and features that can enhance your experience as a punter. These may include the ability to bet on live golf – on events as they take place in the real world, including live streaming of some events. Having a good app for betting on golf is also key. That could be a downloadable app or a browser-optimised experience on phones and tablets.
Any golf betting site that you use in the UK must be legitimate, which means it must have a current and valid UKGC licence. All the sites we recommend meet this essential qualification. However, in addition, a site must also have proven itself trustworthy, and not have a history of problems such as refusing to payout winning clients, or receiving UKGC sanctions.
We’ve entered the AI age, and many sites seem to have handed their customer service functions off to bots. We prefer golf betting sites that understand the need to retain a human touch, with genuine interaction with real people. This should be with 24/7 live chat at a minimum, with telephone support as a bonus. If a site just provides an email address, then that’s not good enough in our eyes.
No matter if you are Masters betting, or simply betting on the first qualifying round of your country’s annual championship, you could get something for nothing if you use free golf bets to place your wagers.
A free bet is usually handed to you as a reward for making a deposit at a site. For example, you could earn yourself a £10 free bet by making a £10 deposit using your own money and then placing a £10 wager at the minimum odds stipulated.
Even the best free bets come with terms and conditions, so make sure you check them out before you attempt to claim any bet. One typical condition is that a free bet stake isn’t returned if your bet is successful, only the winnings themselves. You may also be required to place your free bet at minimum odds, so keep an eye out for that.
Other bonuses commonly offered by golf betting sites include deposit bonuses, enhanced odds and payment for extra places. When betting in the majors, for example, you will often find that sites will pay out ‘each way’ for lower placings on the final leaderboard than they usually would. We’ve picked out some golf-specific bonuses you may be interested in and have listed them below.
Bet365’s ‘Each Way Extra’ offers you the options of increasing or decreasing the number of finishing places when you betting on an outright, pre-event, on selected golf events. This will allow you to add places to your each way golf bets where applicable to increase your chances of a return at lower odds. You can also increase your prices by reducing the number of qualifying places. The number of ‘Each Way Extra’ places that are offered on any event scan be seen on the ‘Each Way Extra’ coupon, or on your bet slip.
There are plenty of reasons why William Hill landed at the top spot for golf betting in the UK, and the site’s all-year-round enhanced odds deals for golf is one of them. Just log on to the site before any major tournament and you will see what’s on offer. For example, for the 2024 Dubai Invitational if you wanted to bet on Jordan Smith, Yannik Paul and Thirston Lawrence all finishing in the top twenty, then your normal odds would have been 11/4, but William Hill boosted them to 10/3! Enhanced odds at William Hill will always boost your golf returns.
While most golf offers at the leading golf online bookies concentrate on individual events, the offers at Betfred extend across entire tours as well. Just head down the fairway at Betfred to see what’s on offer. It could be picking the top finisher out of a group of selected competitors, choosing a number of golfers to make the cut or even betting on whether (or not) anyone will score a hole in one. There are always dozens of special bets to choose from, and all ‘over the odds’.
Betting sites try to find a balance between offering highly competitive odds and losing money! If they offer too generous odds, too many punters will take advantage and leave the site penniless. If their odds are too tight though, the punters will go elsewhere!
This is why there is very little difference between the odds offered by the most generous betting site and the least generous one. If you are looking to indulge in US Open golf betting, for example, then any of the sites featured on our list of the best golf betting sites will give you competitive odds. In the meantime, here’s how they square up on pricing Nick Taylor to win the US Open (as of 09:30 GMT, 11/03/24):
Betting on golf is really no different to betting on any other kind of betting, from football betting to eSports betting. Preparation is key though - never bet on golf (or any sport for that matter) without performing your due diligence. Know what you are betting on, why you are betting and how much you are betting. For our example, we are going to run through an Open Championship golf betting wager. The process may vary depending on which betting site you are using, but this example will give you a firm idea.
Most online golf betting sites have in-play golf betting options. This allows you to bet on golf tournaments after they have started. Golf is ideal for live betting as it is a slow (some will say too slow) game. You can watch a tournament and react to what is happening. Golf is also a game of ebb and flow. If a player begins a round badly they seldom recover, whereas if a player is hitting birdie after birdie they could be ‘in the ‘zone’ and a stellar round might well be the outcome.
If you really know your golf (so much so that you’re considering signing up as a tipster at golf betting tipping sites) you can put your expertise to good use by following in-play golfing events and placing your bets accordingly.
A few golf betting sites will have live streams of golf events, but not majors such as the US or UK Open or the Masters. Such big tournaments have media agreements which means they cannot be streamed online for free at any sports betting site.
There are plenty of markets in golf beyond betting on tournament winners, which is called outright betting. Here we briefly go through all of the major markets available when betting on golf.
Note that while most of these golf betting markets are applied to the whole tournament, many bookies will also offer them on a specific round.
If you’ve ever bet on horse racing then you’ll understand about each way betting. If you have never bet on horses in your life, then here is what an each-way bet means in the golf world.
An each-way bet is two bets in one – a win bet and a place bet. Half of your stake goes on the win, and half of your stake on the place. A place bet is a bet on a competitor to finish high up the final placings. If your backed competitor wins, both bets win. However if your backed competitor only places, only your place bet wins. If your backed competitor neither wins nor places, then you lose your stake.
The leaderboard positions that count as a place in golf depend on the size of the field, but it is usually in the top five. A place is typically paid at a rate of one-quarter the win odds. You can get different odds with extended places, but the more final positions that count as a place, the less generous the odds will be.
All the best golf betting sites work just as well on phones and tablets as they do on desktop PCs and laptops. The site software reconfigures itself when you visit so that it fits on a smaller screen. You should have no problems following the golf latest betting odds, plus leaderboard standings and golfing news. Some betting apps may even offer live streaming.
Most betting sites can be visited using a mobile browser, but a handful have apps that you can download and install. These should be available for both iOS and Android-based devices.
The golfing calendar is full of tournaments. Here we take a look at the top tournaments that you can bet on with the best bookmakers for golf:
Major | Date | Location | Course | First Played | Most Wins | Record Score |
The Masters | April | USA | Augusta, Georgia | 1934 | 6, Jack Nicklaus | 268 (Dustin Johnson, 2020) |
PGA | May | USA | Various | 1916 | 5, Jack Nicklaus, Walter Hagen | 264 (Brooks Koepka, 2018) |
US Open | June | USA | Various | 1895 | 4, Jack Nicklaus, Ben Hogan | 268 (Rory McIlroy, 2011) |
The Open | July | UK | Various | 1860 | 6, Harry Vardon | 264 (Henrik Stenson) |
Many international and national tournaments are linked together to form tours. Players can play in as many tour events as they want. The aim is to finish as high up the overall leaderboard as possible and earn the greatest amount of prize money.
These four tours are regarded as the top level of tour golf, but many other lower-tier tours exist. The Japan Golf Tour, Challenge Tour and Kon Ferry Tour are just three examples.
Some other popular golf tournaments you can bet on:
Want to be able to place some smart golf bets? Then you’ve reached the right section! Here are some top tips that should see you hit birdies when it comes to betting on golf, and stay out of the golf betting bunker!
Now that we've highlighted the best golf betting sites in the UK, the only thing that remains is for you to choose one you'd like to sign up with. As you've seen, they all have plenty to offer, so take your pick and we'll see you at the 19th hole!
Bet £10 Get £30 In Free Bets
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All UK golf betting sites accept Visa and MasterCard debit cards. Credit card usage for gambling is not permitted due to UKGC rules. Other payment methods include eWallets such as PayPal, Skrill, Neteller plus alternatives like PaysafeCard and ApplePay. Cryptocurrencies are not an option at UKGC-licensed sites.
To calculate winnings with fractional golf betting odds you multiply your stake by the fraction. To calculate returns do the same but add your stake back on. With decimal odds, multiply your stake by the decimal to calculate returns. To calculate winnings do the same then subtract your stake.
Cashing out is particularly common when you bet on in-play golf. It allows you to cash out a currently winning bet, albeit with a reduced payout. You should only cash out a winning golf bet if you are not confident that your bet will still be a winning one once the tournament is over.
There is no guaranteed way of winning at golf betting. If you are just starting out, try and find free golf betting tips. Once you are confident in your golf betting knowledge, then try picking your own selections, but keep your stakes low at first.
If you are a beginner, following the PGA tour is a very good idea. Check current form, course conditions and historical information. Start with outright or similarly straightforward bets. Then, when you are winning on a fairly consistent basis, you can start exploring other betting markets.
Peter is one of the most well-known and well-respected names working in the field of online sports betting today. Having a Bachelor of Arts degree, Peter has worked for many high-profile publications in the industry, both online and in the real world. He joined the SafestBettingSites team in 2021 and has provided millions of words ever since. When not writing, Peter enjoys performing and writing music, gaming, reading and he is a massive movie buff, with a particular love of Japanese cinema and anime.
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