thousands of dollars on bets placed on the British Open golf tournament, which ended yesterday.

Due to a mix up over time zones, two-thirds of the field had already completed their first round on Thursday before the bookmaker realised the tournament had even started. Seahorses had seemingly forgotten that Scotland, where the event was held, was four hours ahead of Bermuda time.

A handful of local punters who watched the opening day's play live on cable television were astonished to discover that Seahorses was still accepting bets on Thursday morning at the players' pre-tournament odds.

They grabbed what spare cash they could and went scurrying to Seahorses' office in Burnaby Street, Hamilton, to beat the betting deadline of noon local time.

The Business Diary is aware that late bets of at least $1,000 were placed on the tournament's eventual winner Nick Faldo at his starting odds of 8/1 AFTER he had already shot an excellent five-under-par score of 66 in the first round.

Hundreds of dollars were also placed on Ian Woosnam after he had shot a first round 65.

One punter, an investment specialist, won $4,500 after placing $500 on Faldo to win the tournament. He told the Business Diary: "I couldn't believe it when a friend rang me to say that Faldo had shot a first round 66 and Seahorses was still accepting bets at 8/1.

"I fancied Faldo to win before the tournament started but had decided not to risk a bet. But I couldn't resist betting on him at the same odds after he had already posted a superb first round score.

"I knew the smart thing to do was to go down to the bookies and bet as much as I could afford. Seahorses obviously made an error and this was too good an opportunity to waste.

"It felt a bit like using `insider information' but if the bookmaker isn't on the ball, that's not my fault.'' The bettor had wanted to put $1,500 on Faldo, which would have won him a whopping $12,500. But Seahorses would only allow him to put on $500. He hedged his bet by placing a further $500 on Woosnam, who was another of the first round hot shots.

The Business Diary knows of at least three other bets of between $100 and $240 which were placed on Faldo after his spectacular first round.

Seahorses' manageress Mrs. Jean Bezant was quick to admit that she had made an error. "It's my mistake,'' she said. "I don't know what to say. I got the starting time wrong and I did not know the tournament had already started when we were still taking some late bets.'' The odds on Faldo should have been considerably shortened after his first round score. For example, one of the largest chain of bookmakers in the world, the UK's William Hill, slashed Faldo's odds from 7/1 to 9/2 after his first round and cut Woosnam from 12/1 to 11/2.

Standard practice for bookmakers all over the world is for odds to be constantly re-calculated during an event in order to reflect changing circumstances.

Mr. Graham Sharpe, a spokesman for William Hill in London, said last week: "We are accepting bets throughout the tournament hole by hole until the final putt has dropped. We revise our prices hole by hole.'' He would not comment on another company's business methods, but he added: "If we bet on a foreign event we make it our business to know what time that event starts.''