The USGA is thrilled to bring the world’s top players to Wisconsin for the first time since 2007, where they will compete for the Francis D. Ouimet Memorial Trophy,” stated USGA Chief Championships Officer John Bodenhamer. “Allied Golf Associations across the United States assist in providing thousands of golfers with the opportunity to compete in the 156-player field.” This qualifying process exemplifies the USGA’s basic values and is critical to the championship’s success.
The 2024 Ontario Men’s and Senior Men’s Match Play Championship will be here before we know it, with less than two months until the event kicks off at the Tangle Creek Golf & Country Club in Barrie, Ontario.
Since its inception, the tournament has attracted significant attention from the media and the local community as well as the legal Ontario Sportsbooks like these ones, links to which can be found here. By opening registration to amateur golfers with a Golf Canada handicap of 7.0 or less for the Men’s and 8.5 for the Senior Men’s (as well as international golfers with a comparable mark), the tournament gives us mere mortals a chance at showcasing our talents just like the pros do. With allowances for golfers above and below the age of 55, there’s a chance at the action for competitors of all ages, making it one of the best amateur events in Ontario every year.
Exempt from qualifying and already entered are 2022 champion Padraig Harrington, who won with a 72-hole score of 274 (10 under) at Saucon Valley Country Club in Bethlehem, Pa. Along with Ernie Els (1994, 1997), Retief Goosen (2001, 2004), Michael Campbell (2005), and Furyk (2003), U.S. Senior Open champions Fred Funk (2009), Bernhard Langer (2010), Olin Browne (2011), Kenny Perry (2013, 2017), Colin Montgomerie (2014), Gene Sauers (2016), and Jim Furyk (2021) have entered.
Around the Golfing World: What’s New
While betting lines won’t drop for the 2024 event anytime soon (it isn’t scheduled until the week of June 6 to June 9) here’s a look at some hot topics in the world of golf betting at this moment. Up next on the PGA Tour is the RBC Heritage at the Harbour Town Golf Links on South Carolina’s Hilton Head Island. While it doesn’t have the prestige of events like last week’s Master’s, it’s got a much better prize purse, with golfers competing to earn the lion’s share of the $20 million payout.
The RBC Heritage starts at 7am EDT on Thursday, April 13. Jon Rahm of Spain (who won the Masters last weekend) is the current favorite to win the event, listed at or around 8-to-1 at a handful of Ontario sportsbooks. Many of the books have him tied with American Scottie Scheffler, but odds (and promotion payouts) can vary dramatically from sportsbook to sportsbook: make sure you shop around first if you want to place a bet to ensure you’re locking in the best possible odds.
The year 1950 marks the beginning of Hilton Head Island’s Modern Age. Electricity was introduced in 1951. As did the first telephone, which was introduced in 1960. Charles Fraser and Fred Hack led a group of Georgia natives in purchasing 19,000 of the Island’s 25,000 acres in the 1950s. These foresighted entrepreneurs put a halt to timbering and hunting on the land and began selling it to developers. They established a land-use system that became the model for many other successful developments by emphasizing on the preservation of the natural environment.
Paved roadways replaced dirt roads. Beautiful bridges replaced the ferry boats that used to get to the island. Residential Plantations grew up frequently around the original Plantation limits.
Here’s a look at what happened in the Senior Men’s Match Play Championship last year, and a look ahead at how the field could play out in 2024.
Last year’s Round of 32 held some dramatic upsets in the Senior bracket. No. 1 seed Rob Cowan fell to No. 32 Barry Fairhurst in the opening round of the finals, upsetting the bracket before it even got started.
That’s part of the beauty of amateur golfing, whether you partake as a competitor, a spectator or as a bettor: there’s a much more level playing field than in the pros (and it’s much more difficult for sportsbooks to predict who will win), where perennial world champions are teeing off against golfers just starting to get their footing on the PGA Tour. As such, that makes it a great opportunity for canny bettors who can sniff out the upsets before they occur.
Rahm, Scheffler, and McIlroy are the world’s top three players, but they have combined for three top-30 performances at TPC Sawgrass in the last five years. In Caesars Sportsbook’s 2024 Players Championship odds, Rahm and McIlroy are 17-2 co-favorites, with Scheffler a 10-1 third option. Which one should you select for your 2024 Players Championship fantasy team? Before you establish your fantasy golf rankings or make any 2024 Players Championship predictions, check out SportsLine fantasy guru Jim Holliman’s fantasy golf projections and lineup suggestions.
The Men’s bracket didn’t have quite as much drama, with No. 1 seed Charles Fitzsimmons sweeping through the field on the way to a championship win.
The Tangle Creek course has some good variation, with grassy plains transitioning into forests and ponds, so no matter what style of course you prefer, there’s a chance to build up a big lead (or catch up after an early deficit) as the landscape changes dramatically.
Prospective golfers in both age brackets have to apply before the deadline at 4pm EDT on April 28: once the registration process is complete, we’ll have a better look at the playing field (and what golfers one might have to bet against).
Tangle Creek Golf Club, which opened in 2002, immediately established itself as one of the premier golf facilities not just in Barrie, but in the Greater Toronto Area. This all-bent grass layout constructed by renowned course architect Rene Muylaert on over 200 acres of rolling terrain will satisfy every golfer’s desire. If you are interested in becoming a golf course architect, read this article.
