He is 17. That is the whole answer to the Charlie Woods age question. The USGA listed him at 17, from Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, in the field for its 78th junior championship. Born in February 2009, the son of Tiger Woods turns 18 next winter.
| Detail | What the public record shows |
| Age today | 17 |
| Born | February 2009 |
| Listed hometown | Palm Beach Gardens, Florida |
| School year | High school senior for 2026-27 |
| College plan | Expected to sign with Florida State, 2027 recruiting class |
| Most recent start | 78th U.S. Junior Amateur, Saucon Valley Country Club |
| Junior eligibility | One more U.S. Junior Amateur, in 2027 |
Key takeaways
- The Charlie Woods age answer is 17, and it stays 17 until February 2027.
- The USGA printed his age in its own field list, so nobody has to guess at it.
- He qualified for the 2026 U.S. Junior Amateur, then lost a 14-for-2 playoff for the last match play spots.
- He is a high school senior and is expected to sign with Florida State.
- The under-19 rule leaves him one more crack at the USGA’s junior championship.
Where the number 17 comes from
Junior golf ages get guessed at constantly, so it helps that this one was printed by the organization running the championship. The USGA’s field list for the 78th U.S. Junior Amateur gave every competitor’s age as of the final day, July 25, 2026. His line read 17. Entry, handicap and eligibility all run through the same paperwork, which makes that list the cleanest public source available.
February 2009 is the birth month attached to him since he first turned up on golf telecasts as a small boy in a red shirt. The arithmetic from there is short. He is 17 now, 18 in February, and 19 in 2028.
Age does more work here than it looks. It decides which fields he can enter, which rankings count him, and how much junior golf he has left. If you follow the amateur game through our golf tournament coverage, hold on to that last point.
Charlie Woods age and the junior golf clock
The USGA sets a hard line for its junior championship. A player cannot have reached his 19th birthday by the last day of the event, and he needs a Handicap Index of 2.4 or better even to enter. Both rules were published in the association’s own fast facts for this year’s championship.
Run the calendar forward and the window closes fast.
- 2026: played it at 17, at Saucon Valley Country Club.
- 2027: still eligible at 18, because his birthday falls in February.
- 2028: aged out, since he turns 19 months before the championship begins.
The 2026 U.S. Junior Amateur, and the shot that ended it
Saucon Valley Country Club in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania hosted the championship from July 20 to 25, 2026, over the Old Course and the Grace Course. The USGA took 3,681 entries and cut them to a field of 264. Simply arriving with a tee time is the part most write-ups wave past.
Stroke play ran 36 holes, with the low 64 moving into match play. He opened slowly. Then he played his last 31 holes in 1 under. That lifted him to 5 over and a share of 63rd place, and into a 14-for-2 playoff for the final two spots in the bracket.
It ended on the first extra hole. A phone camera clicked during his backswing on the par 5, the chip that followed came out wrong, and the bogey sent him home. CBS Sports, which reported the incident on July 22, 2026, quoted his reaction as it happened: “Really dude? I mean, come on.”
That was his third appearance in the championship, and his first two starts both ended at the 36-hole cut. Reaching a playoff is a step, even when the step ends with a bogey.
| Item | Detail |
| Venue | Saucon Valley Country Club, Old and Grace courses, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania |
| Dates | July 20 to 25, 2026 |
| Entries | 3,681 for 264 places |
| Format | 36 holes stroke play, low 64 to match play, 36-hole final |
| His stroke play | 5 over, tied 63rd, into a 14-for-2 playoff |
| Outcome | Bogey on the first playoff hole, eliminated |
| Defending champion | Hamilton Coleman, 17, of Augusta, Georgia |
Where he sits in the junior rankings?
The Rolex AJGA Rankings work on a 52-week rolling cycle, and the current boys list covers events from November 22, 2025 to October 12, 2026. He is not in the top 10. Miles Russell holds the number one spot, with Luke Ringkamp and Giuseppe Puebla next.
So the honest read on his 2026 season is a player who qualifies for hard fields rather than one who wins them yet. Readers who like tracking young competitors before the wider audience finds them can browse profiles of other young athletes for that same arc.
Florida State, and the 2027 recruiting class
College is the next real marker on his calendar. He is a high school senior for 2026-27. CBS Sports reported in July 2026 that he is expected to sign with Florida State as part of the Seminoles’ 2027 recruiting class. Russell, the top-ranked junior in the country, is in that same class.
Nothing has been signed. A letter of intent for the 2027 class cannot be filed until that class’s signing period opens, so the commitment is a plan on paper.
Pairing a famous surname with the country’s top-ranked junior in one recruiting class is the sort of story that follows a program for four years. Our wider sport desk tracks that kind of college pipeline across other sports too.
What changes between 17 and 20
Age is not only a paperwork question in golf. It is a power question. A 2020 study in the journal PeerJ tracked 16 elite male golfers, average age about 17 and playing off scratch, through 18 weeks of in-season training. Rotational power rose 16.96% in the group that lifted weights before golf practice, against 8.03% in the group that lifted afterward.
That is why a 17-year-old’s scorecard reads differently from a 20-year-old’s. Speed, strength and the fitting of a bag all move around underneath him, which is also why juniors change clubs so often. Our equipment reviews and buying advice cover the same ground for anyone rebuilding a set.
Does he still play the PNC Championship?
Not last December. The 2025 PNC Championship put 20 teams on the course at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club in Orlando, and Team Woods was not one of them. Matt Kuchar and his son Cameron won at 33 under, a tournament record, by seven shots.
The father and son pairing did play the event together in earlier years, and their best week was a second-place finish in 2021 at 25 under.
- 2025 winners: Matt Kuchar and Cameron Kuchar, 33 under, a record 111 for 36 holes.
- 2025 field: 20 teams, no Woods entry.
- 2026 edition: December 17 to 20 at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club, Orlando.
What to watch over the next 12 months
Two things decide how this year gets remembered. The first is whether he signs with Florida State when the paperwork opens. The second is the 2027 U.S. Junior Amateur, his last one, and the last chance to put a match play run on the record before the under-19 rule closes the door.
Keep the fall junior schedule and the USGA’s 2027 qualifying dates on your calendar, and you will see the answer to both before anyone announces it. That is the useful way to follow a 17-year-old golfer: through entry lists and scorecards, and nothing else.
FAQ?
He is 17. The USGA listed him at 17 in the field for its junior championship, with ages given as of July 25, 2026.
February. He was born in February 2009, so he turns 18 in February 2027.
Florida State is the expectation. He is reported to be part of the Seminoles’ 2027 recruiting class, though nothing has been signed yet.
He finished stroke play at 5 over, tied for 63rd. A bogey on the first extra hole then ended his 14-for-2 playoff for the last two match play spots.
Through 2027. The USGA bars anyone who has reached 19 by the final day, and he turns 19 in 2028.
Not inside the Rolex AJGA Rankings top 10 for the 2025-26 cycle, which is led by Miles Russell.
