Preview

2025 Betfred British Masters Tips

Betfred British Masters Event Info

Starts: 21st August 2025
Course: The Belfry (Brabazon)
Par: 72 (36-36)
Length: 7,310 yards
2024 Champion: Niklas Norgaard

Course Info

Designer: Dave Thomas
Type of Course: Parkland
Used Since: 2020 (Different event)
Fairways: Average
Par 5's: 3rd, 15th & 17th
Premium on: Approach play, scrambling and putting. 

Significant Info To Be Aware Of

This course was not used for this tournament in 2020 but it was the venue for the 2020 ISPS Handa UK Championship.

The Brabazon course has twelve par 4s.

Betfred British Masters Trends

Winning Score
When the British Masters was held at The Belfry between 2006-2008 the winning scores were -11, -15 and -12.  Rasmus Hojgaard won the ISPS Handa UK Championship in 2020 with a score of -14 and Richard Bland won this event on -14 in 2021, whilst Thorbjorn Olesen and Daniel Hillier have won with -10 prior to Norgaard.. We can expect a winning score of -10 to -15 with a better forecast this week.

Winning Profile
The world rankings of the three British Masters winners (2006-2008) were 194-48-157.  Hojgaard was 94th when he lifted the trophy at the ISPS Handa UK Championship and Bland was 218th before his win in 2021, whilst Olesen was on the comeback trail in 364th, Hillier was 318th and Norgaard was 205th. Longer odds winner happen at the Belfry. 

Correlating Courses 
The Portugal Masters offers a number of similarities. Westwood is a winner at the Dom Pedro Victoria golf course, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano had a runner up finish there and Johan Edfors had a solid enough record there too.  It's also notable the 2020 runner up, Justin Walters, has an excellent record at the Portugal Masters.

Course Form
Most players did not play the British Masters between 2006-2008 but 2021 winner, Richard Bland, was 19th at this venue in 2020. None of the 2021 top 5 featured on the leaderboard in 2020. Olesen was 57th the year before he triumphed but did finish 17th in the ISPS Handa UK in 2020 at the Belfry. Hillier was a course debutant before winning. Norgaard held the 54 hole lead in 2023 so showed his liking for the course prior to his win last year.  Some form of course experience appears to be handy. 

Recent Form
Norgaard arrived with form of 15-53-27.  Hillier arrived in nice form of 3-MC-5. Olesen arrived with form of 33-23-12 so had been showing signs. Bland had finished 27th in his previous start and Hojgaard had finished 3rd the week before he triumphed.  Of the players who won between 2006-2008, Westwood finished 6th the week before, Fernandez Castano 25th and Edfors 45th.  Recent form does appear to be important.

Betfred British Masters Stats Analysis

SG: Approach
Norgaard ranked 38th last year. Hillier only ranked 35th however Olesen ranked 11th. Bland ranked 3rd in 2021, whilst runner up Guido Migliozzi was 10th. Rasmus Hojgaard ranked 7th in 2020. The winners of the last three British Masters (2006-2008) were all accurate iron players too.  We should favour players with good Strokes Gained: Approach stats. 

SG: Off The Tee
Norgaard ranked 1st. Hillier ranked 54th but was 4th for distance. In 2022, Olesen ranked 125th, including 148th in accuracy. In 2021, Bland ranked 31st, notably 1st for Driving Accuracy, whilst Migliozzi was 32nd. In 2020, none of the top four ranked inside the top 10 for SG: Off The Tee (they ranked 12-24-45-38 in this category).

SG: Around The Green
It was a similar story around the greens as no player in the top four ranked inside the top 40 in 2020. Bland ranked 61st in 2021 but did rank 1st for Scrambling. Migliozzi was 33rd and 3rd for scrambling. In 2022, Olesen was ranked 67th, but did rank 8th for scrambling. Likewise, Hillier ranked 70th but 5th for scrambling in 2023. Norgaard was 33rd around the greens last year.

SG: Putting
The last two winners - Norgaard and Hillier - ranked 8th. Olesen ranked 3rd SG: Putting in 2022. In 2021, Bland ranked 87th, losing strokes on the greens! The top four in 2020 ranked 2-23-6-11 in this category, so a good putting week certainly helps.

Betfred British Masters In Play Tips

Niklas Norgaard was two shots back at the halfway stage last year and converted a four shot lead going into the final round.

Hillier was seven back after round one, five back at halfway and three behind with a round to play. 

Olesen converted his lead last year but 3rd round leaders have a terrible record in recent times with every 3rd round leader beaten between 2006-2008 and then again in 2020 and in 2021. Edfors won from 4 back, Westwood won from 2 back and Fernandez-Castano came from 3 back between 2006-2008.  In 2020, Rasmus Hojgaard came from five back and Bland came from 3 back in 2021. Opposing the 3rd round leader is a solid strategy.

Six of the last seven course champions opened with under par first rounds. Olesen opened up with a 66 to lead last year whilst Bland and Migliozzi shared 3rd place after round one last year before dropping back slightly.

2025 Betfred British Masters Tips