The Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) and the United States Golf Association (USGA) issued an update to their policy on transgender golfers this week.
Updated Policy
Under new gender policies announced Wednesday, players must either be assigned female at birth or have transitioned to female prior to undergoing male puberty to be eligible for LPGA tournaments or the eight U.S. Golf Association championships designated for female competitors.
Set to take effect in 2025, the policies are the result of more than a year of research encompassing medicine, sports science, physiology and gender policy law.
Who Does Policy Impact?
The revised policies would render Hailey Davidson ineligible to compete. Davidson narrowly missed qualifying for this year's U.S. Women's Open by one stroke and fell short during LPGA Q-School.
Davidson, who celebrated her 32nd birthday on Tuesday, started hormone treatments in her early 20s in 2015 and underwent gender-affirming surgery in 2021, meeting the requirements of the LPGA's prior gender policy. Earlier this year, Davidson secured a win on Florida's NXXT Golf mini-tour, but the circuit implemented a new rule in March mandating that players must be assigned female at birth.
In an Instagram story on Wednesday, Davidson responded to the policy update by saying, "Can't say I didn't see this coming."
"Banned from the Epson and the LPGA. All the silence and people wanting to stay 'neutral' thanks for absolutely nothing. This happened because of all your silence," Davidson said.
Advancing to the second stage of Q-School would have granted Davidson limited status on the Epson Tour, the official developmental circuit for the LPGA.
What the LPGA and USGA Are Saying
The LPGA and USGA stated that their updated policies aim to balance inclusivity for diverse gender identities and expressions with a commitment to maintaining fairness in competition.
The LPGA, citing guidance from a panel of experts, stated that the physiological effects of male puberty confer competitive advantages in golf over players who have not experienced it.
"Our policy is reflective of an extensive, science-based and inclusive approach," LPGA Commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan said. "The policy represents our continued commitment to ensuring that all feel welcome within our organization, while preserving the fairness and competitive equity of our elite competitions."
Mike Whan, former LPGA commissioner and current CEO of the USGA, noted that the organization developed its updated policy independently but later found it aligned with regulations adopted in sports like swimming, track and field, and others.
"It starts with competitive fairness as the North star," Whan said during an interview. "We tried not to get into politics, or state by state or any of that stuff. We just simply said, 'Where would somebody—at least medically today—where do we believe somebody would have a competitive advantage in the field?' And we needed to draw a line."
"We needed to be able to walk into any women's event and say with confidence that nobody here has a competitive advantage based on their gender. And this policy delivers that," Whan added.
The LPGA's updated "Gender Policy for Competition Eligibility" will apply across the LPGA Tour, the Epson Tour, the Ladies European Tour and their respective qualifying events. The USGA's "Competitive Fairness Gender Policy" will take effect during the 2025 championship season, beginning with the U.S. Women's Amateur Four-Ball from May 10 to 14. While qualifying started late this year, no transgender players participated in the process.
Under the policy, players assigned male at birth must demonstrate that they did not progress beyond the first stage of puberty or past age 12, whichever occurs first, and must also meet specific testosterone level requirements.
This article includes reporting from The Associated Press.
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