SOUTHAMPTON, NY - JUNE 17: Brooks Koepka of the United States celebrates with the winners trophy after the final round of the 2018 U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club on June 17, 2018 in Southampton, New York. (Photo by Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images)

Basics of the US Open Tournament

Are you looking to expand your betting skills into the world of golf? One of the four major tournaments is a great place to start. In 2019, the U.S. Open will be taking place in mid-June, celebrating its 119th year.

A Year For The Books

This year, the tournament will be held at perhaps the most iconic course in America: Pebble Beach. In many golfers’ minds, Pebble Beach is symbolic of the U.S. Open. It’s a grand course on the seaside in Central California, with the white sands and rolling hills of Carmel in the distance. The course will be celebrating its centennial this year, so many golfers are vying for a spot in this historic tournament.

The very first U.S. Open was a much smaller ordeal. It was only a 9-hole tournament. Today’s tournament is a 72-hole competition (4 rounds of 18-holes). The length of the play requires not only physical skill and finesse but also a great deal of mental stamina.

Golf is an interesting and fun sport for punters. There are so many variables in the game and equally as many ways to bet. Since there are 156 players, the option with the biggest potential is betting on an outright winner. This is the player with the lowest score after all 72 holes.

As always, when placing a bet, you need to do your research. A good place to start with the major golf tournaments is to understand what it takes to gain a spot in one of these tournaments. How a player got to the tournament could be just as important a factor as something like their overall ranking. Maybe they’re a rookie on a hot streak and you want to take a chance on their raw talent.

You can find out all you need to know to be a successful at Golf betting here.

How It Works

There are two pathways to Pebble Beach. Although the U.S. Open is open to any amateur or professional golfer, the road to Pebble Beach is not an easy one. In order to gain one of the coveted 156 spots, each golfer must prove themselves to be exceptional.

Local and Sectional Qualifiers:

One of the roads to Pebble Beach is via more traditional means. Compete in a Local competition which is 18-holes. Move on to a Sectional competition, 36-holes.

There are many Local competitions. Each has anywhere from 20-150 players with up to 8 spots. These start in late April and go through mid-May. You can find the schedule and results here.

There are 12 Sectional competitions in the world. They’ll be finished by early June. Mark June 3rd in your calendar. Ten of the 12 Sectionals take place on this day. Then the full line-up for the U.S. Open will be known and you can start picking your favorites.

This year’s qualifying rounds started with over 8,600 players in Local competitions. They are vying for just 500 spots at a Sectional tournament. As you can imagine, there is an incredible amount of skill and focus required to make it to the U.S. Open.

Exemption

At the moment, there are 50 golfers who are already qualified to play in the tournament. They’ve qualified for the U.S. Open through any of 15 exemptions. They are based on a player’s performance in U.S. Open and other major tournaments in recent years, winning other amateur competitions, or world rankings.

Some of the exempt players have qualified for multiple exemptions. This is a good indicator of their prowess and something to look into while researching which bets to place. You can find a list of the exemptions and exempt players here.

Many of the players who have entered the competition through exemption are the favorites to win this year. But golf is an interesting and fun game for betting because it is constantly changing. A favorite could have a bad day and plummet in the rankings. Just to be overtaken by an amateur in their first major.

So, make sure you keep one eye on the Leaderboard and the other articles on Betopin.com for the best resources in online betting. Happy punting!