Drive, Chip and Putt vs. PGA Jr. League vs. U.S. Kids Golf

Parents typing "Drive, Chip and Putt vs PGA Jr League" are usually trying to decide where to spend a season. That framing does not quite hold up, because Drive, Chip and Putt is not a season-long program in the first place. It is a single free skills day, drive, chip, and putt, repeated at each round of the qualifying ladder if your golfer keeps advancing, and nothing more. It does not occupy the same slot as a program that runs every week for months.

The real season-long decision is between PGA Jr. League, U.S. Kids Golf, and First Tee, and our full comparison of those three covers cost, format, and which to start with in depth. This guide is about where Drive, Chip and Putt fits around that decision, not instead of it.

Drive, Chip and Putt is free at every stage, from local qualifying through the National Finals, open to golfers 7 to 15, and scored as a skills contest, three drives, three chips, three putts, rather than a stroke-play round. It asks for no season-long enrollment and no team commitment. Advancing runs through a ladder from local qualifying up to the National Finals at Augusta National, covered in full in our Drive, Chip and Putt qualifying guide.

Because it costs nothing and asks for one day at a time, there is rarely a reason to skip it regardless of what else your golfer is doing that year.

These three are season-long programs, and they are built to teach different things:

• PGA Jr. League is team golf: a two-person scramble format across 9u, 13u, and 17u divisions, run as a season with a national club fee plus a local program fee that varies by location.
• U.S. Kids Golf is individual stroke play scaled to age, starting as young as 5, run as a local tour across a season with modest per-event fees.
• First Tee is a class-based curriculum building fundamentals and etiquette, serving ages 7 to 18 through local chapters, run as a season of weekly classes, low-cost with financial aid commonly available.

Our PGA Jr. League vs First Tee vs U.S. Kids Golf guide breaks each of these down in full, including current costs and a decision table for which to start with.

Fees change year to year and vary by location, so confirm current pricing directly with each program before enrolling.

If you are choosing a season-long first program, use the decision table in our PGA Jr. League vs First Tee vs U.S. Kids Golf guide to match the program to the golfer in front of you. Separately, and regardless of that choice, enter Drive, Chip and Putt local qualifying when it opens, typically in spring, because it costs nothing, asks for a single day, and needs no ongoing enrollment.

Most families end up doing more than one of these in the same year rather than picking just one. For a young golfer just getting started, our Foundations stage guide covers what actually matters at this age, program logos aside.