TRANSGENDER GOLFER BANNED FROM FLORIDA BASED MINI TOUR AFTER GENDER POLICY CHANGE.
Transgender golfer Hailey Davidson’s playing options just got significantly smaller.
NXXT Golf announced on Friday that, effective immediately, competitors must be a biological female at birth to participate. A statement from the tour notes that it underscores the organization’s commitment to “maintaining the integrity of women’s professional golf and ensuring fair competition.” The news comes on International Women’s Day.
“As we navigate through the evolving landscape of sports, it is crucial to uphold the competitive integrity that is the cornerstone of women’s sports,” said NXXT Golf CEO Stuart McKinnon in a statement.
“Our revised policy is a reflection of our unwavering commitment to celebrating and protecting the achievements and opportunities of female athletes. Protected categories are a fundamental aspect of sports at all levels, and it is essential for our Tour to uphold these categories for biological females, ensuring a level playing field.”
Davidson, who has won three times on the tour, is currently in second place on the mini tour’s rankings for the season.
This season, she has competed nine times on the NXXT. The NXXT is the second U.S. mini-tour to implement this change. The Cactus Tour, based in Arizona, made a similar announcement last month on National Girls and Women in Sports Day, stating that they were reinstating a rule requiring participants to be female at birth.
In the past, several LPGA players have utilized the mini-tour to shake off rust and enhance their skills as amateur and young professional golfers.
Anna Nordqvist, a three-time major champion, Allisen Corpuz, the 2023 U.S. Women’s Open winner, Grace Kim, Mina Harigae, Gabriela Ruffels, and Cheyenne Woods are among the past champions.
Bobbi Lancaster, a retired physician who became the first transgender player to compete in LPGA Q-School, once spent time competing on the Cactus Tour. Lancaster recently told Golfweek that her views on allowing trans women to compete in elite women’s sports have changed.
Davidson’s victory on the NXXT in January got national attention after many believed her performance put her on the doorstep of the LPGA. The NXXT has a new partnership this season with the Epson Tour, the developmental feeder tour for the LPGA. The top five earners on the NXXT points list will earn two exemptions into Epson Tour fields.
However, according to the fine details, players must meet certain criteria to receive exemptions for the Epson Tour. This includes the NXXT having a minimum of 10 events with an average of 40 players participating. Unfortunately, the number of players in the fields was consistently lower than that requirement.
After the Davidson controversy, the NXXT conducted a confidential survey among its players to collect their views on the tour’s gender policy, but the findings have not been disclosed publicly.
The tour also asked Davidson to undergo further testosterone testing in order to confirm conformity.
Davidson received a scholarship to join the men’s team at Wilmington University, a Division II school in Delaware. He later moved to the men’s team at Christopher Newport, a Division III school in Virginia.
On September 24, 2015, which is a significant date marked on her right forearm, Davidson started receiving hormone treatments. In January 2021, she underwent gender reassignment surgery, a six-hour procedure mandated by the LPGA’s Gender Policy.
Three years in the past, Davidson participated in LPGA Q-School as the second transgender player, but did not qualify. In 2022, she attempted again, narrowly missing the 54-hole cut by one stroke.
