LPGA*USGA Girls Golf Explained

LPGA*USGA Girls Golf, which also calls itself Girls Golf, is a junior golf program built for girls. Its home page describes it as “the only junior golf program for girls ages 6-17 that specializes in providing girl-friendly environments to learn the game of golf”. It is run in partnership between the LPGA Foundation and the United States Golf Association, and the program says it was founded in 1989 in Phoenix by LPGA Professional Sandy LaBauve.

The golf happens at local sites. The program calls each local program a site, not a chapter, and the person who runs it a Site Director. Its Start a Site page says sites “are run by local Site Directors who receive support from the LPGA Foundation and the USGA”, and that “Each location sets its own programming schedule and fees”. That explains most of this guide: the national pages describe the program, and the site decides the details.

On who teaches, the Who We Are page says sites provide golf instruction “led by LPGA and PGA teaching professionals or certified coaches from The First Tee”. The same page says members learn more than golf: confidence and other life skills, organized around what the program calls its Five E’s (Empower, Enrich, Engage, Exercise and Energize).

The home page says the program has grown to “over 700 sites around the world”. The finder shows whether one is near you.

Sources: LPGA*USGA Girls Golf, Home, Who We Are and Start a Site. Checked October 11, 2026.

Beginners. Yes, by the program’s own description. Its philosophy page says Girls Golf sites “make learning the game fun, social, and less-intimidating for girls who are just starting out, or want to play with other girls who share their interest in the game”. The Who We Are page says its instructors are “experts in taking girls from beginner to advanced golfers”. None of the pages we read sets an experience requirement or asks for a score. They also do not say how a particular site groups first-timers with girls who already play, so ask the Site Director.

Ages. The program describes itself as for girls ages 6 to 17, and the range at a given site is the site’s call. The FAQ says age requirements “can vary from program to program”, that the majority of sites work with juniors between the ages of 6 and 17, and that “some also specialize in working with kids ages 5 and under”.

Brothers and other boys. The program is designed for girls, and it is not closed to boys. The FAQ asks “Can boys join LPGA*USGA Girls Golf?” and answers: “Yes, brothers and friends are welcome to join in on the fun and can even become official LPGA*USGA Girls Golf members.” It adds that Girls Golf programs “first and foremost cater to the interests of girls”, so as boys get older they “tend to seek out programs where there might be more boys involved”.

Sisters. The FAQ has no separate answer for a sister. She is a girl joining a girls’ program, so the question is whether she falls inside the site’s age range.

For any sibling, tell the Site Director who you want to bring before you enroll. The FAQ’s answer is a national one, and the pages we read do not say how an individual site handles a brother or a child outside its usual ages.

It depends on the site. The pages we read give no national season, no winter session and no national start date. What they do say:

• The FAQ: “Some sites operate year-round, while others host events seasonally.” Sites “meet anywhere from 5 to 25 times each year on weekends, after-school, or during the summer”.
• The Find a Site page: “Some meet every week, some once a month, and others for just a season.”
• The FAQ also lists where sites meet: golf courses, driving ranges, parks, “or even in indoor-recreation facilities”. So a site can meet indoors. Nothing on these pages says which sites do.

To check your own site:

1. Search the Find a Site page for your area.
2. Contact the Site Director. The site listing gives a phone number, the Site Director’s name and an E-Mail button. It shows no schedule.
3. Ask which months the site meets, whether it meets between November and March, and where. If it stops for winter, ask when it starts again and when enrollment for that season opens.

A seasonal site may already have finished for the year when you ask in fall. That is a question for the Site Director, not a sign that the program has closed. If your site does pause, our winter indoor training guide covers short practice sessions at home by age.

Enrollment is local. The Find a Site page sets it out in three steps:

1. Search for a Girls Golf location in your area. The finder searches by state, zip code, city or address.
2. Contact your local Site Director “to learn more about their program, schedule and fees”.
3. “Enroll as a national member for your site”.

The same page carries one instruction in bold: “Please contact your local site director before registering online”. Do it in that order. The finder lists each site with its name, address, a phone number and the Site Director’s name, followed by Sign Up, E-Mail and Directions buttons. It shows no schedule, fee or age range, so use the phone number or the E-Mail button first. The Sign Up button leads to the online registration that the page asks you to leave until you have spoken to the Site Director.

What step 3 means. You enroll online as a national Girls Golf member for the site you chose. The Find a Site page says enrolling as a national member “makes you eligible to participate in your local Girls Golf site’s events”. The perks it lists are membership gifts, which are shipped to the program director to hand out at local events, and a monthly newsletter. It also says members “are granted free entry to LPGA, Epson Tour, and USGA Championships”. The page does not explain how that entry works, so ask.

Cost. There is no national price on the pages we read. The FAQ’s answer to “How much does it cost to become a Girls Golf member?” is that each site “has enrollment fees of their own to help cover costs for range balls, instruction, snacks, etc.”, and it sends you to the Site Director for pricing. The pages do not say whether the national membership in step 3 carries a fee of its own, and we did not open the online sign-up form. Ask the Site Director for the total before you register.

Help with fees. The official pages do not promise reduced fees at a site. What they do say: the grants page says the LPGA Foundation awards grant funding each year to official sites to help with the expenses of operating programs, and the home page says its fundraising campaign is meant to reduce financial barriers and “provide resources to girls with financial needs”. If cost is the obstacle, ask the Site Director whether the site has help available.

No site nearby. The FAQ suggests asking your local golf course to start one, and signing up for the eClub. The next section covers what the eClub is and is not.

Sources: LPGA*USGA Girls Golf, Find a Site, FAQs and Grants, checked October 11, 2026. We read the listing layout on the finder page and did not run a search.

Three things have similar names. Only the first two put a child in a local program:

• A local site. Where the clinics and events happen. You find it in the finder and talk to its Site Director.
• National membership. The online enrollment in step 3 above, made for your site. The Find a Site page says it is what makes a child eligible to take part in that site’s events.
• The eClub. Online only. The eClub page describes it as “an on-line experience” for young golf enthusiasts “while waiting for a local program to become available in your area”. The FAQ calls it free and describes tips and advice from golf experts, stories, golf news, and national contests and sweepstakes.

The eClub page is explicit: “Signing up for the eClub will NOT register you with a traditional LPGA*USGA Girls Golf site.” To register with a site, it sends you to the Find a Site page. So if a site is near you, the eClub is not the way in. If no site is near you, the eClub keeps a child connected to the program. It does not place her in a local one.

Every answer below is set by the site, which is why the national pages send you to the Site Director. Ask these before you register online:

1. What ages do you take? The FAQ says age requirements vary from program to program.
2. Can a complete beginner start now, and who will she be grouped with?
3. Can her brother or sister join too? Give their ages.
4. Which months do you meet, and do you meet in winter? Ask where, and whether it is indoors.
5. How many sessions are there in a year, and on which days? The FAQ’s range is 5 to 25.
6. What does it cost in total? Ask what the site’s fee covers, whether national membership adds to it, and whether there is help with fees.
7. What happens at a typical session? Ask whether the site holds tournaments and whether they are optional.
8. Does she need her own clubs? The pages we read do not say whether a site lends equipment.
9. When should I register online? The Find a Site page asks you to contact the Site Director first.

There is no single national season plan. The FAQ says sites “host clinics, tournaments, and social events” and meet anywhere from 5 to 25 times each year. One site’s year can be five events and another’s can be 25.

The program’s philosophy page gives the flavor. It says instruction is delivered “through engaging activities”, and that a typical Girls Golf event could include “anything from hitting marshmallows out of a bunker, taking a field trip to a professional golf tournament, or hosting a pirate-themed golf competition”. Its Five E’s page says the program will often cut drills short for a golf fashion show, a pizza party or a water balloon toss, and that sites build fitness and nutrition education into their programming.

Tournaments are part of the mix. The FAQ lists them beside clinics and social events, and a member quoted on the Who We Are page mentions “mini-tournaments”. What the pages do not say is how often a given site holds a tournament, what format it uses, or whether taking part is optional. Ask.

The program makes its own case. Its philosophy page says “Research consistently shows that girls reap the biggest rewards when learning in all-girl environments”, and its research page states: “Junior golf programs that offer girls-only programming experience a 50% higher retention rate than those who do not.” That page lists two sources at the bottom, a Women’s Sports Foundation report and a 2008 journal article on retention in youth programs. It does not say which one the 50% figure comes from, and we did not check either. Treat it as the program’s claim, not an independent finding.

Built around girls does not mean closed to boys, as the FAQ answer above shows. Whether a girls’ setting suits your daughter is a judgment for your family. If a site is nearby, the Site Director can tell you what its sessions are like.

Girls Golf is one of several ways to start. First Tee, PGA Jr. League and U.S. Kids Golf are separate programs with their own finders and registrations. Our PGA Jr. League vs First Tee vs U.S. Kids Golf guide sets out what each organizer says about itself: First Tee chapters run group golf lessons with a life skills curriculum, PGA Jr. League is team golf played as a two-person scramble, and U.S. Kids Golf Local Tours are one-day tournaments played in age groups. Our PGA Jr. League guide covers the team format, including the 9u division added in 2026.

Girls Golf is instruction and events at a site. Getting onto a course for a round between sessions is a separate question of access and cost, which our Youth on Course explainer and Youth on Course vs First Tee vs PGA Jr League guide cover.

A site may hold its own tournaments, so a first taste of competition can come inside the program. The Five E’s page also says members who “aspire to compete in college or on Tour” are connected with resources and education. It does not say what those are.

The pages we read do not describe a ranking or a national tour inside Girls Golf. For junior tours, our girls’ junior golf tours guide covers where that path starts, and our when to start competitive golf guide covers how to judge readiness before making that move.