Founded in 1996 by Dan Van Horn, the story gets better with time.
Our History
Driven By Our Mission
The mission of U.S. Kids Golf is to help kids have fun learning the lifelong game of golf and to encourage family interaction that builds lasting memories.
We do this by having properly fit equipment, kid-friendly development programs, training coaches globally, and hosting more tournaments than any other organization in golf.
Our History
U.S. Kids Golf, LLC was started in 1996 to solve the problem its founder, Dan Van Horn, experienced when getting his sons, ages 5 and 8, into golf.
"They were enthusiastic at first, but their interest quickly dropped. They weren't having fun," Van Horn recalls. "At the time, I didn't realize that cutoffs and junior clubs were too heavy; they were not only hurting my kids' swings but also their desire to play."
Determined to make the game more enjoyable for kids, the former golf professional and engineer developed Ultralight clubs designed to be 25% lighter than adult and most junior clubs.
What started as a solution for his own family grew into U.S. Kids Golf, a worldwide leader in properly fitted equipment designed to help young players enjoy and succeed in the game.
Pictured here is Dan Van Horn with his son, David, in an early promotional video for our equipment.
The U.S. Kids Golf Foundation
In 2000, recognizing the need for both junior coaching programs and competitions to be scaled, two critical initiatives were started to help fulfill the mission: Play & Learn and Tournaments.
That same year, U.S. Kids Golf hosted its first World Championship in Jekyll Island, GA, bringing young players and their families together through competition. Building off the success, the U.S. Kids Golf Foundation was established in 2001 as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization to further the mission.
Today, the Foundation's reach extends to more than 170 local markets worldwide, hosting over 2,700 tournaments annually and providing opportunities for more than 32,000 young players each year. Through kid-friendly coaching, appropriately scaled competition, and courses designed to fit the player, the Foundation continues to grow the game and bring families together. These efforts are guided by our Four Pillars.