The LPGA Tour announced a dramatic change in its gender policy Wednesday, having huge repercussions for transgender players.
Women’s golf has been embroiled in controversy over the past year with multiple professionals pleading with the tour to alter its rulebooks to prevent trans athletes, such as Hailey Davidson, from competing.
The LPGA had stood firm by its inclusion policy for transgender athletes who undergo surgery after male puberty, having removed its requirement for golfers to be ‘female at birth’ in a policy change in 2010.
However, the organization has performed a U-turn with the updated gender policy, which will come into force in 2025, now requiring players to be assigned female at birth or have transitioned to female before going through male puberty to compete in LPGA tournaments or the eight USGA championships for women.
‘Under the new policy, athletes who are assigned female at birth are eligible to compete on the LPGA Tour, Epson Tour, Ladies European Tour, and in all other elite LPGA competitions,’ a statement from the tour read.
‘Players assigned male at birth and who have gone through male puberty are not eligible to compete in the aforementioned events.’
The LPGA Tour (pictured commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan) announced a dramatic change in its gender policy
Players assigned male at birth must prove they have not experienced any part of puberty beyond the first stage or after age 12, whichever comes first, and then meet limitation standards for testosterone levels.
The LPGA and USGA say their policies were geared toward being inclusive of gender identities and expression while striving for equity in competition.
The LPGA said its working group of experts advised that the effects of male puberty allowed for competitive advantages in golf compared with players who had not gone through puberty.
‘Our policy is reflective of an extensive, science-based and inclusive approach,’ said LPGA commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan, who announced Monday that she is resigning in January. ‘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, the former LPGA commissioner and now CEO of the USGA, said it developed the updated policy independently and later discovered it was similar to those used by swimming, track and field, and other sports.
‘It starts with competitive fairness as the North star,’ Whan said in a telephone 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.’
The ‘Competitive Fairness Gender Policy’ for the USGA takes effect for the 2025 championship season that starts with the U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball on May 10-14. Qualifying began late this year, though there were no transgender players who took part.
The updated policies would rule out eligibility for Davidson, who has been trying to earn her professional status on the women’s tour amid criticism and opposition from almost 300 rival players.
The 31-year-old missed qualifying for the US Women’s Open this year by one shot and came up short in LPGA Q-school.
Davidson last competed as a male golfer in 2015, after which, she began hormone therapy treatments and underwent gender reassignment surgery in 2021.
She was banned from competing in tournaments on NXXT Golf – a women’s professional mini tour – earlier this year after winning the Women’s Classic at Mission Inn Resort and Club, an event on the circuit near Orlando, in January.
The victory allowed the Scot to take a step closer to the LPGA with the NXXT awarding its top five players with exemptions to the Epson Tour – a step below the top tier of the women’s game.
However, the circuit then announced on International Women’s Day that it had reversed its gender policy and that, effective immediately, competitors must be a biological female at birth to participate.
While Davidson failed to clinch her LPGA tour card this year, she will no longer have a second chance next season as the new policy would apply not only to the LPGA Tour, but also the Epson Tour, Ladies European Tour and qualifying for the tours.
More to follow.
