Ben Coley Review
Sporting Life outright tips, published free every week.
Every figure on this page is quoted from the linked source over the window that source published it. We do not restate anyone's record over a period they did not report, and where a service publishes nothing we leave the column blank rather than fill it in.
Verdict
The best free option in golf betting, and it is not close. Ten years of published bets, wins and losses alike, at no cost. If you are deciding whether a picks service is worth paying for at all, start here and find out what a good record looks like before you spend anything.
The record
Ben Coley writes Sporting Life's golf preview and gives every selection away free. He also publishes his advised bets year by year, winners and losers, which is more transparency than most paid services manage: 2016 +190.87, 2017 +316.45, 2018 +50.73, 2019 -145.12, 2020 +363.56, 2021 +692.51, 2022 +585.04, 2023 +312.22, 2024 +255.00, 2025 +136.20. That runs to +2,757.46 points across ten published years, including a losing one.
We do not quote an ROI off that total, and no honest page should. Sporting Life publishes what was won but not what was staked, and an ROI needs both halves. Dividing the profit by an assumed stake would be inventing a figure and dressing it as a fact.
The 23.06% in our table comes from Smart Betting Club instead, which put his record at 1,279 points at that rate since 2017. Note the word we use for it: SBC tracks Coley, it does not verify his picks in advance. He is a newspaper columnist publishing in the open, not a subscription service submitting selections for audit. That is a third category, better evidence than pure self-reporting and weaker than independent verification.
One caveat on that figure. The SBC piece cites 2022 winners, so 1,279 points is a snapshot around 2022 rather than a current running total. It is quoted here with that window attached and should not be restated as "to date".
Coley's own estimate of his long-run return is 20-25% since 2015. We have left that out of the ROI column for the same reason we discount Racing Post's numbers for Steve Palmer: a tipster's own estimate of their own edge is the weakest form of evidence available, however well it happens to be borne out.
Pros
Cons
Ben Coley FAQ
Are Ben Coley's golf tips free?
Yes, entirely. They are published on Sporting Life each week with no subscription.
What is Ben Coley's actual ROI?
Smart Betting Club reported 23.06% since 2017, as a snapshot around 2022. Sporting Life's own record shows +2,757 points across 2016-25 but does not publish the amount staked, so no ROI can be derived from it without guessing.
Is a free tipster as good as a paid one?
On this leaderboard the free one out-returns several paid services and comes within half a point of the best independently verified record on it. Cost and edge are not the same thing, and anyone selling you tips should be able to explain what you get that Coley does not.
A note if you bet in the UK or Ireland
Ben Coley bets at UK betting sites, largely outrights, in markets and at prices that US sportsbooks do not offer. Golf Tipsters is a US service - top-finish markets in American odds at DraftKings, FanDuel and BetMGM. If you are betting in the UK, our sister site GolfForecast covers that market properly.
Go to GolfForecast (UK)How Ben Coley compares
We rank every UK golf tipster we can find a published record for, side by side, with each figure sourced - including GolfForecast, our own UK sister site.
See the full leaderboardBetting at a US sportsbook?
Golf Tipsters picks are top-finish bets in American odds, with the best price across DraftKings, FanDuel, BetMGM and more.