Short Iron Carries Narrow Putting Surface With Hole

Golf Betting Lines

Avenel was developed over 220 acres in Potomac, Maryland's rolling countryside, just minutes away from famed Congressional Country Club. The course is a perfect stadium golf facility, designed for hosting a PGA Tour event.

 

Gil Morgan shot four sub-par rounds in 1990 to edge a hard-charging Ian Baker- Finch by one shot. Morgan, who started the final round three shots back, shot 69 for the win, while Baker-Finch, who trailed by seven, closed with 66. Billy Andrade became a first-time winner in 1991, as he birdied the first playoff hole to defeat Jeff Sluman. Andrade shot four rounds in the 60s to tie Sluman at a tournament-record total of 263, a mark that still stands today.

 

Bill Glasson captured his second Kemper Open and first at Avenel in 1992, as he edged four players, including John Daly, by one shot. Grant Waite foiled Tom Kite's bid for a second title with his first and only PGA Tour title in 1993. Kite, leading by one heading into the final round, shot 72 to Waite's 70 to finish one behind.

 

The 1998 title went to Stuart Appleby, who became the second International player to win at Avenel. Despite a one-over 72, Appleby defeated Scott Hoch by one shot. Appleby secured the win with a three-iron to within 15 feet on the final hole and two-putted for par. Rich Beem led, or was tied for the lead, from start to finish in 1999, as he won for the first time on the PGA Tour. Beem's total of 274 was one clear of Bill Glasson and Bradley Hughes.

 

Tied for the lead after three rounds with Bob Burns, Bob Estes carded a Sunday 71 to edge 1999 champion Rich Beem by one shot for his fourth career title in 2002. Burns, who aced the 11th hole during the final round, finished tied for third after a one-over 72. Estes carded 17 pars and one birdie, but trailed by one with three holes remaining. Burns, who held the lead, would relinquish the advantage with a costly double-bogey on 16 while Estes parred the final two holes for victory. Beem carded four rounds in the 60s, including back-to-back 69s over the weekend.

 

Rory Sabbatini returned to the winner's circle for the first time in three years, as he closed with back-to-back 68s for a four-shot win. With his victory, Sabbatini became the fourth player in the last five years to either hold or share the 54-hole lead and go on to victory. The 2003 event changed names to the FBR Capital Open.

 

The PGA Tour stepped in to do some redesign work in 2005 and the tournament was moved to nearby Congressional Country Club.

 

REVIEW: The opening hole at the TPC at Avenel is a sharp, dogleg-right par four of just 393 yards. However, don't be misled, as the tee shot plays uphill to a fairway that is protected on either side by long bunkers. A medium to short iron will remain after a successful tee ball to one of the smallest greens on the course, just 32 paces deep. Any shot offline and to the right will be gobbled up by a difficult bunker. An opening par is not a bad way to start.

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SPORTS BETTING - Tennis is an underrated and under-utilized bettors' sport.

Ten years ago, at just about this time, I called Alan Boston in Vegas and left him a voicemail that went something like this (abridged version): "Hey Alan, Chad Millman from ESPN The Magazine calling. I want to do a book about wise guys, you in?"

A couple weeks later I got a message back (abridged version): "I don't know, maybe," Boston said. "Call me and we'll talk about it. But not later today. I got $1,000 on Andre Agassi to win the French Open at 40-1, and he's in the finals."

Here's what happened next (abridged version): Agassi won his tourney. Boston won his $40,000. I wrote sportsbook.

In the ten years since, how much has been wagered on the big-time tennis events? Put it this way: The Nevada Gaming Commission doesn't even track the number year by year because it's so small.

"Tennis makes up about one-tenth of one percent of our take," says Lucky's bookmaking boss Jimmy Vaccaro. "The last big golf major we probably had $100,000 worth of bets. In tennis, we might have written two big tickets."

Tennis' lack of popularity amongst the American bettoratti is no surprise, really. For starters, the biggest sports betting holidays -- the Super Bowl, the NCAA tourney -- are must see TV. People, at least the degenerates I know, plan vacations around watching those events in Vegas sports books.

But Wimbledon? Doesn't exactly reel in the whales. "Seriously, it's the nuts as an event," says Boston. "But who even knows when it's on?"

Here's another reason that helps explain why golf gets traction, something I call "The Bubbe Theory." My Bubbe is pushing 95 and has cataracts so bad that, to her, even the most crystalline Chicago day is mostly cloudy. But she still listens to the Cubs games, and she still calls me in a fit if she disagrees with something Rick Telander writes in the Chicago Sun Times. She's a sports fan. If she doesn't know you, you're just filling a niche. And niche players, even historically good ones like Roger and Raf, don't drive betting volume. Only the highest profile names attract square money, which inflates wagering totals like a shot of saline to the lips. Bubbe, and the public, loved Agassi, tennis' last cross-the-rubicon, mainstream draw. She also has a crush on Tiger. She's given me standing orders to put a sawbuck on the big cat whenever I walk through a sports book (or mistakenly tap into one via my Internet machine.) That explains why the Masters is getting $100K in action at some books while the four tennis majors might not get that combined this year.

This isn't a case of tennis being a difficult sport to bet. In fact, in Europe, it's probably the second most popular sport for gambling after soccer. Granted, as the WSJ football betting last week and The Mag's Shaun Assael examined in even greater depth last year, that might be because gamblers across the pond see it as an easy game to fix. But it could also be because, over there it holds the kind of sway the big two do over here.

Street corners in Spain are peppered with public courts and kids doing their best Raffy impressions. In some war torn parts of Eastern Europe poverty-stricken kids view tennis as an escape route, like football or basketball here. A couple years ago The Mag's Lindsay Berra wrote a great piece about Belgrade's Jelena Jankovic, Ana Ivanovic and Novak Djokovic. They learned the game as kids while bombs were raining down on their homeland. They practiced in drained swimming pools. Not exactly Nick Bolletierri conditions.

In the United States, casual fans think tennis is played four times a year. But on the tightly packed European continent, national interest in homegrown talent runs deep every weekend. Of the ATP's current top 20 players, only two, tennis betting and James Blake, are American. Fourteen are from Europe, representing six different countries.

No wonder fans from Lisbon to Bhudapest get jacked up for the net game, whether it's Wimbledon or a low-level tourney like the Estoril Open in Portugal (congrats to Spain's Albert Montanes for winning that one, btw). Chances are good that someone representing their flag will not only be playing, but have a shot at winning.

And that's all any bettor can ask for.

To visit this sports book go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs.