Sports betting is one of the most popular entertainment options around the globe right now and of course punters in the UK have been able to wager on golf since Noah was a boy. With ever improving technology, data analysis in golf betting is coming up as the driving force of the industry, and it’s really making a difference to a gold bettors decision making.
Not only is there more data available from the tours themselves, allowing bettors to take into account an ever-increasing number of variables, but there are also a number of sites such as formgolfer.com that have sprung up that run this data themselves.
What Is Data Science?
Data science is the process of incorporating various scientific methods, models, and algorithms to analyse, interpret and uncover knowledge from large volumes of stored data. With the improvement of technology, it has been quite some time since data analysis has been implemented not only to improve players’ performance but also in the sports betting sector associated with it.
For example, PGA Tour partnered with CDW back in 2003 to incorporate a ball-tracking system known as ShotLink in their games. As of now, their records of over 174 million shots and 80,000 hours of videos have given valuable insights into performance trends in golf.
How Does Data Analysis Modulate Sports Betting?
A game of golf is conducted over a span of four days. Sports betting sites have come up with micro-betting opportunities which means that the bettors can place a bet anytime during a game. Experienced bettors may know facts like hitting the fairway means a better chance for a golfer to score under par and that only one-third of putts are scored from a distance of over 20 feet.
But how did we get this information? Data obtained from advanced gathering systems and their interpretation via various techniques have rendered us inconspicuous statistics that are going to act in favour of gamblers who follow a logical pathway in betting. Tiniest aspects like shoulder movements and club grips can change the outcome of a game, as obtained from data analysis.
Bookmakers Incorporated Data Analysis
Bookmakers, who are involved in placing bets, calculating odds, and payouts are the ones who came in touch with data science before the gamblers. They used past data like the performances of a player in particular venues and weather conditions, his popularity and current form, and in-game moments to calculate the odds. They can also limit the number of bets placed in favour of a potential champion. It was initially performed in a more primitive way, but digitalization has bestowed us with better sampling and analysing techniques to upgrade sports betting altogether.
Improved Analytics
Mark Broadie of Columbia University is quite a celebratory figure in the world of golf among the players and the fans for his contribution to the game. Thanks to his strokes gained concept which was demonstrated from ShotLink’s data in 2011, revised the traditional metrics used to calculate the odds. Broadie applied mathematical techniques and dynamic programming to simulate thousands of shots using different clubs and different targets to decode the most efficient ones. These led to the debunking of common golf myths like driving distance and putts per round regulating the game. Rather, it’s the approach shots that are 40% responsible for determining the outcome, and only 15% for putting. In simple words, the long game mattered more than the short game.
Where Do the Bettors Stand?
It is quite unlikely that a normal bettor is going to apply advanced data analysis techniques during a match to improve his betting outcomes. However, going by the ‘something is better than nothing’ notion, a bettor can start with his studies before the commencement of a tournament to analyse player forms and performance trends. This traditional method of data analysis can at least help a future bettor to shortlist legitimate betting sites that do not indulge in manipulation of odds and other fraudulent activities. For example, GOLFstats and the PGA Tour official website have proved to be useful in accessing a huge quantity of statistics with high granularity, (for example, the driving average of players). And then there is Data Golf, which has come up with a live prediction model to calculate the winning probability of the players taking part in a PGA Tour event.
Data Analysis is the Axis of Golf Betting
Technological advancements have benefited golf players and coaches with automated data collection and analysis in a digitalized format. As it stands, the betting industry revolves around these techniques as well. With statistics and tools in hand, it’s just a matter of time before the masses start using analytical techniques in their betting strategies. In short, we can expect golf betting to transform from luck-driven to strategy-driven, thanks to data analysis.
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