In two days the biggest golf betting event of the year for UK punters kicks off. The Open Championships, also known as the British Open outside of Britain, is the oldest of the four Majors having been played for the first time in 1860 in Scotland. It is also the only of the Majors which is played outside of the USA and as such attracts more European attention than any of the other three. Regardless of whether you're a seasoned golf bettor or new to golf betting the Open Championships provide an excellent opportunity for excitement and winnings through a historic and spectacular golf championship on British soil.

As always here's a list of interesting resources to check out for the event:

The Open Championship (16.07-19.09)
- The Open Championship - Official Site -
- Turnberry Golf Course is hosting the 2009 Open Championship
- A short overview of Open Championship Golf for punters
- The British Open guide offers a comprehensive overview of the golf championship
- An excellent golf news site for the event is Golf.com
- If you plan to bet the UK Betting Guide has posted a very handy 2009 British Open Preview
- Also be aware that Paddypowers is offering 7 places paid for the British Open
- Lastly here are The Open Championship Betting Odds

Best of luck for what will likely be the highlight of the year in professional golfing

Whilst betting on golf is not as popular as on other sports it does offer some great opportunities for punters willing to try something new. As such I'd like to present the Scottish Open as one golfing event that's coming up which makes for an excellent betting event. Furthermore it makes for a great warm-up before the start of The Open Championship which undoubtedly is the golf betting event of the year for UK punters.

On the flipside, even though Wimbledon has come to a close we have another opportunity for tennis bettors who want some more action with the Mercedes Cup, an ATP event, being played in Stuttgart this weekend.

Some resources for both events follow here:

Barclays Scottish Open (09.07-12.07)
- The official Barclays Scottish Open Site of course features a ton of information
- The PGA European Tour site also features a useful section on the event
- A great resource for punters is the Scottish Open Golf Betting Guide
- Here you can also find a short synopsis of The Scottish Open
- Be sure to read this Scottish Open Betting Preview
- For mainstream news coverage of the event I'd recommend the Guardian Golf News
- Lastly for live bookmaker odds comparisons see the Barclays Scottish Open Golf Betting Odds

Mercedes Cup Tennis Tournament (11.07-19.07)
- The official Mercedes Cup Site is a good starting point
- The ATP World Tour site of course also offers an overview of the event
- The Mercedes Cup Tennis Tournament site is an excellent resource for punters
- The UK Betting Guide also features a page on the Mercedes Cup
- For news the BBC Tennis News is always a good resource
- And for odds comparisons be sure to check out the Tennis Betting Odds Check

I'll be posting another betting event overview for the Irish Oaks later this week.

Next week brings both one of the biggest events from the horse racing calendar as well as another from the annual golfing calendar. The Royal Ascot is both England's biggest and probably most famous flat racing meeting. And on the golfing side of the things the US Open is the second of the four majors in the year. As per usual you can find some good resources for punters and fans alike below:

US Open - 15.06-21.06
- The official US Open website is always a good starting point.
- For news the Golf.com site is a good resource
- If your looking for a good overview of the event check out the US Open Golf Championship site
- The US Open Golf Guide provides a shorter synopsis of the event for punters
- For live bookmaker odds comparison check out the US Open Odds Checker

Royal Ascot - 16.06-20.06
- The Ascot Racecourse website is a good site to check out
- The BBC Racing News if probably one of the best news sources
- The Royal Ascot Guide provides an excellent overview of the event for punters and fans alike
- The Royal Ascot Betting Guide is very extensive and a complete resource for punters
- And lastly for odds check out the UK Antepost Horse Racing Odds Comparison

Betting preview for each event will probably follow sometime soon, will add them as and