LPGA Announces Major Change To Transgender Rule

The Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) Tour has announced a major change to its eligibility rules for competition for transgender-identifying male players starting in 2025.

On Wednesday, the LPGA released findings from its working group-which included experts “in medicine, science, sport physiology, golf performance and gender policy law” that found “the effects of male puberty confer competitive advantages in golf performance compared to players who have not undergone male puberty.”

“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,” the statement read.

“Players assigned male at birth and who have gone through male puberty are not eligible to compete in the aforementioned events,” it added. “The policies governing the LPGA’s recreational programs and non-elite events utilize different criteria to provide opportunities for participation in the broader LPGA community.”

LPGA updates gender policy for competition eligibility.

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— LPGA (@LPGA) December 4, 2024

“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.”

The move comes after transgender-identifying male golfer Hailey Davidson had competed on the NXXT Tour before the group changed its rules and was removed, Fox News noted.

The move on Wednesday now cuts off Davidson’s possible path to the tour or Epson Tours after competing in Q School in the fall as the player inched closer to qualifying for an LPGA Tour card.

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Davidson, who formerly played on a men’s collegiate golf team, took to Instagram after the gender eligibility rule change was announced.

“Can’t say I didn’t see this coming. Banned from the Epson and LPGA,” Davidson wrote in a post on social media. “All the silence and people wanting to stay ‘neutral’ thanks for absolutely nothing. This happened because of all your silence.”

“And somehow people are surprised the suicide rate for transgender people is around 50%,” Davidson added. “Situations just like this are part of the reason.”

As previously highlighted by The Daily Wire, female golfer Amy Olson, who retired in April, has spoken out about how “unfair” it was for Davidson to play against women.

“These women have worked too hard and too long to have to stand by and watch a man compete for and take their spot,” she wrote on X. “The only fair path forward is a policy based on sex, not gender.” 

Notably, Davidson has taken aim at female athletes who criticize him. In a post published on Instagram earlier this year, he wrote, “I will never understand athletes who blame a transgender competitor on their own athletic failures. If you don’t take accountability for your failures then you will never actually be good enough to make it.”

Amanda Prestigiacomo contributed to this piece.

Related: Trans Golfer Lashes Out At ‘Conservative Media,’ Complains About ‘Massive Lie’