Amateur golfers set for poker-faced tournament

LAS VEGAS, United States (AFP) - With a revamped poker-style format allowing for wagers on each shot, the
World Series of Golf will be staged here in May with 180 amateur golfers chasing a 250,000-dollar top prize.
The 750,000-dollar gambling-style golf event announced here on Wednesday will be staged May 13-17 with players having to spend 10,000 dollars simply to take part, then ante in their money before teeing off at every hole.
Players would then be allowed to raise, call, check or fold on subsequent shots with the winner of the hole collecting the pot. Positions and shotmaking confidence allow each player to shift the pressure over three rounds of golf.
Each group winner moves to the next round until a final group decides the champion, who will need only to defeat 14 players in head-to-head competition to take the title.
"The World Series of Golf is a completely new way to experience the game of golf. It demands skill on the links, betting savvy and nerves of steel," said tournament president Terry Leiweke.
"For any golfer who has ever said I would bet anything that I can make this shot, now is his chance to prove it."