Parent-Child Golf Tournaments: How to Enter as a Team

A parent-child golf tournament is a team competition. One adult and one junior enter as a team of two, both of them hit shots, and the team returns one score for each hole. U.S. Kids Golf, which runs a schedule of them, says its Parent/Child events “use a variety of formats including best ball and scrambles”.

That makes the adult a player. It is a different job from caddying and from watching:

Both definitions are on The R&A’s Definitions page. The caddie definition also explains why a partner may talk a shot through with the junior: it calls a caddie “the only person (other than a partner or partner’s caddie) a player may ask for advice”. An event can still set its own terms, so read its rules sheet before you assume how much help is allowed, or whether a team may bring a caddie as well.

If what you want is to carry the bag while your child plays their own ball, that is caddying. Our guide to caddying for your own junior golfer covers that job, and our parent rules and etiquette guide covers what a parent may do from outside the ropes.

Start with an organizer’s own list. U.S. Kids Golf’s Find a Parent/Child Tournament page is its official finder. On October 11, 2026 it listed 13 events, the last of them on January 9-10, 2027. For each event it shows the event date, the registration dates and the late registration dates, and the list can be filtered by month and year.

Read a listing this way:

• Open the event. The finder gives dates only. The format, the number of holes, the fee and who may enter are on each event’s own page.
• Note both sets of dates. The finder’s footnote says: “An additional $15 will be applied during Late Registration. All deadlines are EST.” U.S. Kids Golf’s registration page for these events says: “No entries will be accepted after registration has ended for an event.”
• Check who the event is for. U.S. Kids Golf says “Local Parent/Child Events are events close to home and are open to all players”, and that Championship Parent/Child events “are held in conjunction with multi-day Championship events, and are reserved for players qualified for those Championships”.
• Treat the list as a snapshot. A listing is not a promise of a place. Each of the four event pages below says registration is first come, first served. The registration page describes a waiting list and says: “Players will only be contacted by U.S. Kids Golf if a spot becomes available.” We do not track availability, and nothing on this page tells you an event still has room.

U.S. Kids Golf is not the only organizer. A state golf association can run a parent-child championship of its own, under different rules: NJ Golf had one on its 2026 calendar, and it is described further down. To look for one near you, open your state or regional golf association’s tournament calendar and look for parent-child, family or adult-junior events. Our GHIN guide links the USGA’s list of state and regional golf associations.

These four show how much one organizer’s events differ. They are examples, not recommendations, and their terms can change: open each link for the current page. The words in quotation marks are the organizer’s. Whether any of them is still taking entries is something only the organizer’s page can tell you.

Orange County Local Parent/Child 2026, as listed on October 11, 2026

New Jersey Local Parent/Child 2026, as listed on October 11, 2026

Holiday Classic Parent/Child 2026, as listed on October 11, 2026

Southeast Parent/Child Championship 2027, as listed on October 11, 2026

Read together, the four listings say this:

• Length varies. Three of the four are nine holes. The Southeast championship is 27 holes over two days, and its schedule page puts 18 of them on the first day.
• The format is the event’s own. Two say scramble and two say modified scramble. Only one of the two modified scrambles explains its change on the page.
• The fee buys different things. The four team fees were $95, $125, $195 and $395. One includes carts and a breakfast, one includes food after the round, one is two hours on a simulator.
• Not every listing is on a golf course. The New Jersey event is played on a simulator.
• The adult rule is the same on all four. At least 18, and one junior per adult.

An event names its own format. These are the format names on the pages we read, each with the Rules of Golf’s own wording where the Rules define one. The quotations come from The R&A’s guidance on other forms of play, its Definitions, and Rule 22 and Rule 23.

Two things follow for a family:

• The word on the listing is a label, not the rules. The R&A’s pages we read do not define a modified scramble, so what is modified is whatever that event says it is, and you have to read it. The Holiday Classic page says its hole designations “will be listed on the event’s info sheet/scorecard”. Where a listing does not explain its format, ask the organizer before you enter.
• The event’s committee decides the rest. The R&A says the established forms of play are detailed in Rules 1 to 25 and that a scramble is one of the alternative forms. For a situation the Rules and the format’s own modifications do not cover, it says the matter “should be decided by the Committee”.

The format changes what the day asks of a junior. In a scramble the team plays on from whichever shot it selects, so a shot that goes wrong need not cost anything. In alternate shot the partners play one ball in turn, so every stroke the junior makes is part of the score. In Four-Ball each partner plays their own ball and the lower score counts. That is our reading of the definitions above, offered as a way to choose, not as a rule.

For stroke play, match play and scoring terms at individual events, see our tournament formats guide.

It depends on the organizer. Of the two below, one takes any adult and the other asks for a parent or guardian. Each organizer writes its own rule, and these are the two rules in their own words.

U.S. Kids Golf. Its Parent/Child FAQ asks: “Can he/she play with someone other than a parent in a Parent/Child event?” The answer: “Yes, for our Parent/Child events your child may team up with anyone over the age of 18.”

• The adult’s age. Each of the four event pages above says: “Adult partners must be at least 18 years old and cannot compete with more than one junior golfer.” The FAQ’s wording is “over the age of 18”. If your adult partner has only just turned 18, ask which applies.
• Relationship. None is required on the pages we read.
• The junior’s age. Set by each event. The Southeast championship lists age groups from 8 & under to 15-18, the Holiday Classic event stops at 13-14, and the New Jersey event has one division for ages 5 to 18.
• Playing standard. The pages we read state no handicap or score requirement for either partner. U.S. Kids Golf’s Add a Parent instructions have the adult “choose your handicap range” when accepting the team invitation.

NJ Golf, the New Jersey State Golf Association. Its 2nd Parent Child Championship was dated August 6, 2026, which has passed, and the page gives no 2027 date. It says: “Teams are formed by combining two amateurs, a parent/guardian and their child, each from a member club which is in good standing.” It adds: “Both must hold a USGA Handicap Index of 30.0 or less as of the close of entries, at a member club/course.” The page states no age for the child. It was listed as 18 holes of net stroke play in a format the page calls “MODIFIED PINEHURST” and sets out: “Both partners tee off and then each plays a second shot with the other’s ball. After the second shot, a choice is made regarding which ball to complete the hole with. Alternating shots will be continued until the hole is completed.” The 2026 entry fee was $300.00 per team, and the page says caddies are permitted: “a team may bring its own caddie”.

So an association’s parent-child championship can ask for things a U.S. Kids Golf listing does not mention: here, a member club and a Handicap Index for both partners. The NJ Golf page also states no age for the child, so do not assume an association’s event is limited to juniors. Ask every organizer the same three questions:

1. May the adult be someone other than a parent, and is there a minimum age?
2. What ages may the junior be, and on what date is the age counted?
3. Does either partner need a membership or a Handicap Index?

If the answer to the third is yes, our GHIN guide explains how a junior gets a Handicap Index.

Work through this with the event’s own page open. Where the page is silent, the question goes to the event’s director or the organizer, in writing if money depends on the answer.

1. Who may enter. The adult’s minimum age, any required relationship, the junior’s age group and the date the age is counted from.
2. The format, in the event’s words. If it says modified, find the sentence that says how. If there is none, ask.
3. Holes and days. Nine, 18 or more, and how many on each day. The Southeast championship plays 18 holes on its first day and nine on its second.
4. Tees and yardages for each partner. Ask what distance the junior’s age group plays and where the adult plays from. The Southeast page says yardages for players and parents or guardians “will be available on the day of the event”, so ask earlier if it matters to you.
5. The team fee and what it includes. U.S. Kids Golf’s FAQ says the fee for these events “will always be the price per team”. Read the list of what it covers, then ask about what the list leaves out: carts, range balls, meals, a practice round.
6. The registration dates. When registration closes, when late registration runs and what it adds. At U.S. Kids Golf that is $15.
7. How places are given out. First come, first served means the date you register matters. Ask whether there is a field limit and how a waiting list works.
8. Withdrawal and refund terms. Get the terms for this event before you pay. The section on money below shows why one organizer’s site can give two answers.
9. Weather. What happens to the result and the fee if a round is shortened, postponed or canceled. Our rain delays guide covers what the Rules of Golf and three organizers’ terms say.
10. The start. A shotgun start or tee times, and when tee times are posted. Two of the four listings post them two days before the event.
11. Carts, caddies and spectators. Whether carts are included or required, whether a caddie is allowed, and where the rest of the family may watch from.
12. The trip. How far it is, whether it needs a night away, and whether two sets of clubs have to fly. Our junior golf travel guide covers planning the trip, and our flying with golf clubs guide covers what airlines’ own pages say about a golf bag.

Registering has its own step at U.S. Kids Golf. Its Add a Parent instructions say that after you register your player you add the adult to the account and accept a team invitation. They add: “adult partners must be 18 or older and may not compete with more than one Junior Golfer”.

There is no typical cost to give you. The fee is set event by event, and it covers different things each time. Keep three figures apart, and label each one:

• The organizer’s listed fee. The team fee on the event’s own page on the day you read it, with the list of what it includes. On October 11, 2026 the four U.S. Kids Golf pages above listed $95, $125, $195 and $395 per team. A listed fee can change, and late registration adds $15 at U.S. Kids Golf.
• Your planning estimate. Your own figure for the whole outing: the fee plus travel, lodging, meals and anything the fee leaves out. Our tournament cost calculator takes your own entry fee, hotel, meal and mileage or airfare figures and shows an editable total. That total is a planning estimate built from your assumptions, not a quote.
• What you actually spent. The amounts on the receipts afterward. Keep them: they are the only one of the three that is a fact, and they make next year’s estimate better.

Read the inclusions line closely, because it is where the listed fee and the real cost part ways. The Southeast championship page lists greens fees, carts, a breakfast buffet before Sunday’s final round, a tee gift and awards. It does not mention a practice round, lodging or any other meal, so ask about those before you assume them.

Know what you get back if you cannot play. On October 11, 2026 U.S. Kids Golf’s own site gave two different sets of terms for a Parent/Child withdrawal:

• Its Team Policies page, in the Parent/Child section, says a team captain can withdraw five or more days before the event with a “$10 processing fee”, and that for a withdrawal processed fewer than five days before there is “No refund available”. The registration page in the same section shows the same split: “Player refunded entry fee, minus $10 processing fee” at five or more days, and “No refund” after that.
• Its general Refund Policy page has a heading “Local Tours and Parent/Child Events” with different tiers. At 22 or more days before the event it gives 90% of the tournament fee back to the card or 100% as eCredit. At 5 to 21 days it gives 75% or 85% as eCredit. Under 5 days it gives no refund. The same page has a separate heading for “Multi-Day Events” with longer windows.

The pages we read do not say which set applies to a given Parent/Child event, or to a two-day one. Ask U.S. Kids Golf before you pay, and keep the reply. Our withdrawal and refund policy guide covers the published terms of several junior tours.

This part is practical advice, not anybody’s rule. No organizer says which event a family should start with.

• Start close to home. A one-day event near home is the simpler thing to try: there is no lodging to book and less riding on the day. Save a travel event for when you know you both enjoy playing as a team.
• Pick a format in which a beginner can contribute. In a plain scramble the team plays on from the shot it selects, so one good shot from the junior matters and a poor one need not. A modified scramble may require a set number of the junior’s tee shots, as the Holiday Classic listing does, and alternate shot puts every one of the junior’s strokes into the score. Neither is wrong for a first event. Choose the one your child will enjoy.
• Keep it short. For a first team event, nine holes is enough. Three of the four listings above are nine holes.
• Check the adult’s side of it. You are playing too. Ask which tees you play from, and pick a partner from the adults the event allows who will keep the day light. At U.S. Kids Golf that does not have to be a parent.
• Decide what the day is for. For a first event, finishing the round together and wanting to do it again is a reasonable aim.

The preparation is the same as for any first event. Our first tournament checklist covers what to pack and when to arrive, and this time it applies to two golf bags.

A parent-child event is one way into the game, not the only one. If your child would rather play alongside other juniors, our comparison of PGA Jr. League, First Tee and U.S. Kids Golf sets out how each of those three programs works.