Best Junior Golf Tour

Does anyone have a recommendation (or prior experience) with any of the junior tours? My 11 year old wants to start playing tournaments so we will join a local junior tour that plays in our city over the summer in north Louisiana. I googled "junior golf tour" and came up with numerous tours. It seems that US Kids Golf has regional tours that go to age 12 and then the American Junior Golf Association goes from 12 and up. Any help or recommendations would be much appreciated.

It kind of depends on what level he is playing at. If he is playing at a high level, I would say that the AJGA will get him the most attention and reconition.

If he is a good player, go with the AJGA. If he is just beginning, you should be able to find small tours in your state.

i live in indiana and the is a pretty good junior tour and is pretty compeditive. hey hailtothecheif, i saw mike small and the U of I blue and orange course yesterday loading up his clubs..thats the first time ive seen him. haha just thought id let u know since u like illinois

Haha tight, that course used to be a cow pasture, have they improved it at all? By the way Small is such a gamer, he can go really low.

Thanks to everyone for your help. My son is not the next Tiger Woods but he is good for his age. My understanding is that the AJGA is very competitive and not easy to get into; we will stick with the smaller tours in our area to gain experience.

Play smaller tours now so he can get the experience he needs playing tournament golf, then if he keeps on getting better, definitely play in some AJGA All-Star events (15 & Under) when he is 14-15 which if he does well will make him all set when he starts to play open events (as far as trying to get into the events). If he does well in a few of the All-Star events he will obtain enough exemptions or stars to easily get into a few open events once he gets older. It is a good idea to stick to local/statewide stuff right now though.

AJGA events are overpriced. Look for alternative events in your region. The best players do not always pay up for AJGA high prices. Many college coaches look at multiple tours to find players. They like the Tarheel Jr Tour in NC, The NE tour in NY Met area, Texas Jr Golf Tour in Texas, and The South Florida Jr Tour. These are just a few of the tours that have high quality, competitive memberships, others exist if you look for them.

I would have him play the us kids world qualifier in the spring/early summer to see where he is at compared to the other kids his same age.

If he wins then there is the us kids world championships where you can see where he is at against 145 of some of the worlds best. The added benefit is that if he wins the LA qualifer he can play the large regional events in Georgia,Arizona , and Florida.

My son has won his state/country qualifer the last 4 years and it has really done wonders to his self confidence and his desire to improve.

The LA Baton Rouge us kids fall tour has some very good competition

http://www.uskidsgolf.com/uskgTournaments/...33&state=LA

The plantation junior golf tour is very reasonable but they do not have many events close to your area.

www.pjgt.com

I wish your son the best of luck :clapping:

Other than AJGA, there is FCWT and IJGT, as well as Plantations and local stuff.

US Kids... i just recently placed 3rd in their event at the Dye course in the PGA (i forget the course name..its the one with the ryder, wannamaker and dye course down in port st lucie)

im not sure but the age group is 14 and under now because there were quite a few ppl my age when i played in that tourny

it was hella fun but alot of kids in the younger groups were goin as low as 68s...

From a Dad's perspective, you may want to get your little guys and girls involved the USKG local tours. They are excellent and well run. You can get them exposed to tournament play as young as about 5. My guy has been playing for four years (now 8) and has been on the USKG local tour for two years. All kids must have an adult caddie. (There is a local PGA "Pups Tour" that a number of the other parents have had their kids participate in--once. Their experience was less than positive. Kids caddiing for kids is acceptable. I've been told by respectable parents that decorum was in very short supply. Not quite like Caddyshack's Caddie day at the pool, but...) Our experience with the USKG events is that all aspects of respect, good sportsmanship and honor for the game are paramount. And, the kids can really golf their ball! The entry fees are a reasonable $35, after an initial local tour sign up fee of $50.

Definitely start with US Kids Golf - you're able to compete within your very specific age group instead of a "range". At 11 and 12, you get to play 18 holes locally. Next year, US kids will be adding the 13 and 14 yo to the local tours (they're already have them at the Regional Level). And there is the Teen World Championship. My 8 yo has thoroughly thrived on US kids - winning at every level - local, state, regional and world championships. Every year, more local tours are added for both summer and winter. The World Qualifiers generally won't happen until May.

He also competes on North Texas PGA and the Southwest Junior golf tour. US Kids is growing every year to accomodate more and more golfers, which is why they're adding 13 and 14 yo - AJGA is just too expensive and not practical for a majority of junior golfers. Definitely get in some tournaments now though - high school coaches want their golfers w/ prior experience and US Kids lets them start early.

Check out the "links" section here: www.kylecoxjuniorgolf.com

If he is a high in golfer he should play the AJGA. But it depends on what his ability is.

A new tour that is very good and they play gret courses is the Hurricane Junior Golf Tour. Im a parent of a 13 year old son and they are a great tour and very well ram=n. Check them out www.hjgt.org

He just needs to be playing competetive golf. The tour does not matter so much as the courses he's playing. I know many college coaches, and I can tell you that a coach does not care about who's in the field you playing, or the players he beats in an AJGA tourney. What matters is the numbers he's shooting.

For example, if you go out and play in a tourney on Pinehurst #8 and shoots 68 on a Jr tour with a lesser name, a coach will still see a sub-par round on a championship golf course. Shooting 74 in a AJGA event will not gain you credibility just because it's an AJGA event. Beating the #1 jr player will not gain your son credibility because that player will probably still beat your son in the other 20 rounds you play against him.

There are cases where you can play a FCWT event, pay $200 more and play the same course 400 yards shorter than a local tour that doesn't have the flagship name and STILL get the same kind of exposure you'd get playing an AJGA event.

You job is to, 1) get your son on good golf courses, 2) good instruction, and 3) once he is a stud in the making, be sure you market him well with golf resumes, swing videos, calls to college coaches, etc. I am not trying to discredit the major jr tours, but just because one kid plays AJGA, and another plays the Tarheel Jr Tour in the grand scheme is not as big an impact as your might think. If the kid is playing good golf, coaches will be interested and will seek him out.