Blumenherst cruises into semis at U.S. Women's Amateur

Golf Betting Lines

08/08/2008 - Eugene, OR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Amanda Blumenherst was four-under par through nine holes and that helped her cruise to a 4 & 3 win over Carlota Ciganda in Friday's quarterfinals at the 108th U.S. Women's Amateur at Eugene Country Club.

Blumenherst will face high school sophomore Erynne Lee, who handled Chelsea Stelzmiller, 4 & 3.

The other semifinal match will pair two Spaniards, Azahara Munoz and Belen Mozo. Munoz routed Stephanie Na, who was the co-stroke play medalist with Blumenherst.

Munoz won that match 7 & 6, while Mozo rolled to a 6 & 5 win over Whitney Neuhauser.

Blumenherst won the first with a birdie after Ciganda, the 2007 Ladies' British Open Amateur winner, missed a birdie putt of her own. Blumenherst ran off three straight birdies from the seventh to make the turn with 4-up lead.

"I always expect my competitor to make the putt and I'm going to have to make it to halve. So when she missed it, I thought the door opened and I was able to keep it going from there," said Blumenherst of her win at the first.

Blumenherst, the NCAA Player of the Year, birdied the 13th to push her lead to 5-up, but she bogeyed the next. Ciganda and Blumenherst parred the 15th giving the Duke standout the win.

"I rolled the ball really well," Blumenherst stated. "I was hitting my drives in the middle of the fairway and sticking them close. So it was just solid golf."

Lee made the turn with a 1-up lead as Stelzmiller bogeyed the ninth. Lee won the next three holes to push her lead to 4-up and closed with match with an up-and-down par on the 15th.

Munoz won the first two holes, then took the fifth with a par. She ran off three straight wins from No. 7 to head to the back nine 6-up. Na bogeyed the 11th to fall 7-down and the match was over when both players parred the 12th.

Mozo, the 2006 Ladies British Open Amateur champ, took a 1-up lead with a par on the third. A par on the eighth gave her a 2-up lead and set up a run of five wins in the next six holes as she closed the match with a birdie on the par-five 13th.

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Betting the NFL preseason

Rule No. 1 in the gamblers' handbook states, "Avoid sports betting on meaningless games."

When you're drowning in a sea of baseball monotony, however, things change. Even a hint of pro football betting can persuade the most disciplined bettor to break a few rules. 

The NFL preseason is around the corner, with a tempting Hall of Fame match kicking off on Sunday. But bettors must stay vigilant. Wagering on NFL exhibition games is an entirely different beast than the regular season. Most fans don't recognize the players on the field because starters get as much action in August as Warcraft fans get on Prom night.

The only certainty about the NFL this time of year is uncertainty – and yet there are some who say betting in August can be a gold mine.

“I actually feel the NFL preseason presents solid profit opportunities for sharp bettors and handicappers,” Sports Expert Steve Merril explains. “My experience has been that the sportsbooks fear the preseason, which is evident by lower limits and massive moves.”

The line moves are attributed to the limited knowledge available regarding playing-time distribution. One team’s top unit out on the field for one more series has an impact on the pointspread. Setting lines in the preseason often is a shot in the dark.

“We base the betting lines mostly on public perception,” Pete Korner, founder of the Sports Club in Las Vegas, says. “It’s very tough to predict, almost a guessing game.”

The preseason is all about figuring out who’s in and for how long.

“It becomes a race between bettors and oddsmakers to find out how long the quarterbacks are going to stay in,” Korner admits. “If a sharp gets the information first, he could exploit an early line. I’m a full believer in moving the line in the preseason if the books find out something late in the week.”

Determining what each team’s motive is can help bettors handicap. To do this you must pay close attention to the philosophies head coaches employ in exhibition play.

“You need to know what a coach is trying to accomplish,” says Covers Expert Bryan Leonard. “Sometimes a new coach will want to instill a winning attitude. Others just want to make sure their starters don’t get hurt."

So how do you distinguish who’s playing scared and who’s playing for keeps?

“Head coaches on the hot seat or new coaches trying to implement a winning attitude usually try harder to win in the preseason,” Merril says.

Cleveland Browns head coach Romeo Crennel fits this criteria. He’s entering his third season as the sideline boss and has yet to lead the Browns to more than six wins.

Cleveland is an enticing bet as well because of the unresolved quarterback situation. General manager Phil Savage sacrificed the Browns’ first-round pick in next year’s draft for Brady Quinn, but the former Notre Dame quarterback hasn’t signed or reported to training camp yet.

Charlie Frye and Derek Anderson split time at QB last season and it looks like either player (or even Quinn) could be the opening-day starter.

“If a team has quarterback depth and the pecking order hasn’t been decided, it’s a big advantage,” Leonard says.

Even in the third week of the preseason when starters generally play the most, the final outcome of the game is in the hands of fringe players. A team's talent, all the way down to the last man on the roster, is something to consider.

The New England Patriots have long been considered one of the deeper teams in the NFL and coach Bill Belichick has said in the past he’s unafraid of stars getting hurt in games with nothing on the line. He shocked his colleagues in 2003 by playing some of his starters on special teams in the preseason.

“We want to have the team ready to play a tough, physical game and preparation has to go into that and I imagine a certain amount of injuries go with it,” Belichick told the Providence Journal in August 2003.

Bettors can only hope to find more teams that share the Pats' business-like approach to the preseason (New England is 17-9-3 against the spread since 2000) and take advantage of teams who detest the exhibition schedule.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on football needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.