Golf Bodies to Require Female at Birth or Early Transition for Competition
golfing organizations have revised their gender eligibility rules to exclude trans women that did not transition before experiencing male puberty.Updated rules will apply to golfers competing in all Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) tournaments and eight United States Golf Association (USGA) championships.The change follow a year-long consultation process.
Revised rules will effectively end the careers of competitors like Hailey Davidson, a 32-year-old Scottish golfer who narrowly missed qualifying for the U.S.
Women's Open this year and fell short in LPGA Q-school.Davidson, who began hormone treatments in her early 20s and underwent gender-affirming surgery in 2021, will no longer meet the criteria under the revised policies.Previously, players were expected to have transitioned via gender reassignment surgery and hormone replacement therapy (HRT).The sport joins swimming and athletics in tightening restrictions on trans people.The LPGA say their updated "Gender Policy for Competition Eligibility" and the USGA's "Competitive Fairness Gender Policy" balances inclusivity with competitive equity.Details state players assigned male at birth must demonstrate that they did not progress beyond the early stages of male puberty, specifically before age 12 or its equivalent and meet testosterone-level restrictions.However, critics argue this will eventually phase trans women out of the sport entirely.In recent years, several Western countries have reevaluated and, in some instances, restricted access to gender-affirming care for transgender minors through limiting access to puberty blockers, gender clinics and counseling.Davidson's participation in competitions has, in recent years, become a point of contention for some of her peers.
One letter signed by 275 other professionals demanded she be removed from the Q-School last October.Smaller competitions have also tightened their requirements in 2024.She was eliminated from a Florida mini-tour called NXXT Golf in.
