How to Choose Your First Junior Golf Tour (By Age, Score, and Budget)

The right first tour is the one where your player finishes mid-pack, drives less than an hour, and wants to come back next weekend. Everything else is secondary. Here is how to find it.

Step 1: figure out where your player actually is

Be honest about two numbers.

Age on the tour's cutoff date. Most tours use the player's age on the day of the event or on a fixed date; a few use grade in school. A child who is 11 in April and 12 in June may be in two different divisions across the summer. Our age divisions guide explains the cutoffs.

Typical 9- or 18-hole score from the tee they will actually play. Not a best-ever score. If your player has never kept a full score, play three rounds from a forward tee and average them.

Step 2: match the level

Player	Start here
Ages 5–9, any score	U.S. Kids Golf local tour (9 holes, short yardages), PGA Jr. League, First Tee
Ages 10–12, over 50 for 9 holes	U.S. Kids Golf, PGA Jr. League, or a PGA Section beginner series
Ages 10–12, under 50 for 9 holes	PGA Section junior tour or a local one-day tour, 18-hole divisions
Ages 13–15, over 100 for 18	Local tour or PGA Section beginner/intermediate division
Ages 13–15, 85–100	PGA Section tour championship division, local tours, state association entry events
Ages 13–18, 75–85	State golf association junior tour, PGA Section majors, first regional 36-hole events
Ages 14–18, under 75	State junior championships, regional ranked tours, AJGA qualifiers

Your state's page in the local tours directory lists every program at each of these levels.

Step 3: budget a first season

A realistic first season is six to ten events. Estimate:

• Local / U.S. Kids / PGA Jr. League: $250–$600 for the season including membership.
• PGA Section junior tour: $500–$1,500 for the season.
• State association tour: $500–$1,500.
• Regional 36-hole tour: $2,000–$4,000 including a few hotel nights.

These are entry fees only. Add practice, lessons, and equipment; our cost guide has the full picture. Do not pay for a regional tour membership before your player has played a full local season.

Step 4: ask the tour these questions

Every tour page on this site links to the official site. Before joining, look for:

1. How are divisions split, and what yardage does each play? A 10-year-old should not be on a 6,200-yard course.
2. Where are the events? Pull up the schedule and count how many are within an hour. Fewer than four is a warning sign.
3. Is walking required, and can a parent caddie? Rules vary widely. Some tours ban parents inside the ropes; U.S. Kids requires a caddie for younger divisions.
4. What is the membership fee, and is it required to play one event? Many tours let you try one event as a non-member at a slightly higher fee.
5. Do results go to Junior Golf Scoreboard? For a first season this does not matter, and a tour that is not ranked is often the lower-pressure choice.
6. What is the refund policy? Junior golf has a lot of rain.

Red flags

• The tour markets itself primarily on "college exposure" to players under 13. No college coach is watching 12-year-olds.
• Every event is a two-day 36-hole event with a $250+ fee. Fine at 16, wrong at 11.
• The schedule has events in six states and your state gets two of them.
• The website has no published schedule, no divisions page, and no refund policy.

What the first tournament day should look like

Arrive an hour early. Check in, get a scorecard and a rules sheet, warm up, and meet the group. The player keeps a fellow competitor's score, not their own. Parents watch from outside the ropes unless the tour says otherwise. Afterward, sign the card, check the scoreboard, and go get food regardless of the result. Our first-timer's guide walks through the whole day.

Once your player has a season of results and wants more, the ladder guide explains when to move up.

Find local tours in your state →