Transgender golfer Haley Davidson teed up Tuesday for the second stage of qualifying on her LPGA Tour card. This was despite 275 female golfers protesting the organization's policy allowing players assigned male at birth to compete in women's events.
Davison made it through the Q-School qualifying stage in August, finishing T-42nd despite a huge number of female golfers expressing dissatisfaction with the LPGA's gender policy.
The Independent Women's Forum shared with Outkick that a letter signed by all 275 golfers was sent to the LPGA, United States Golf Association (USGA) and International Golf Federation (IGF) on August 19th. But this was three days before Davidson was scheduled to compete in the tournament. stage before qualifying.
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Transgender golfer Haley Davidson on the qualifying stage of the LPGA Q Series. (Riley Gaines/X)
But the letter apparently didn't change anything, as Davison remained in contention for a card on the LPGA Tour and continued to shoot in Tuesday's opening round of 78.
Davidson tied for 171st out of 194 competitors. Only the top 35 players and players with the same ranking will advance to the final qualifying round. Players who participate in all four rounds of the second qualifying stage will earn exclusive status on the Epson Tour, which is one step below the LPGA Tour.
The LPGA's current gender policy allows transgender golfers to participate as long as they have undergone gender reassignment surgery after puberty and meet hormone therapy requirements.
Davidson has been vocal about his transition, defending himself in August after moving on.
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“Every time I play Q-School, the players keep getting farther and farther apart, and yesterday in the final round, one guy kept beating me by 40 yards,” Davidson wrote on Instagram. . “Honestly, I love watching it, but especially their [sic] Is this massive lie that I am outpacing everyone so far from truth and reality?
“It is clear that conservative media needs to do more to recognize these amazing female athletes, instead of belittling them and their abilities in order to attack transgender athletes.”
Davidson started hormone treatment in 2015 and underwent gender reassignment surgery in 2021.
The female golfers who signed the letter addressed to various golf organizations are current and former players.
“The integrity and fairness of women's golf requires clear and consistent participation policies based on a player's enduring gender,” the letter reads. “The gender differences between women and men have a particular impact on our sport of golf.”
The LPGA logo during the second round of the North Texas LPGA Shootout at Las Colinas Country Club in Irving, Texas. (Ray Carlin/Icon SMI/Corbis/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Golfweek obtained a memo from LPGA Commissioner Molly Marcoux Samaan in August, which stated that the LPGA Tour and Epson Tour will complete a review of their gender policies by the end of the year, and that any changes will be made. It is said that it will be implemented before the opening of next year. season.
Davidson, who played men's college golf at Wilmington University in Delaware and Christopher Newport University in Virginia, almost qualified for this year's U.S. Women's Open. She was at the center of controversy in the sports world throughout 2024 and wasn't afraid to speak her mind.
“I will never understand athletes who blame transgender athletes for their athletic failures,” Davidson wrote on Instagram during Q-School practice. “If you don't take responsibility for your failures, you'll never be good enough to actually succeed.”
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Davidson also criticized the NXXT Women's Pro Tour after it announced in March that eligible tour participants must be “biologically female at birth.”
“Effective immediately, I have been banned from the next three NXXT tournaments that I have already signed up for and been approved to play,” Davidson wrote on his Instagram Story at the time.
“They changed tack midway through the season after I had already signed up and finished second in the Player of the Year race.”
Davidson won the Women's Classic on January 18, her first win in more than two years, and is in position to earn an exemption to the Epson Tour after the season.
NXXT Golf wasn't the only tour to update its policy this year, as Arizona's Cactus Tour announced in September that competitors must also be female by birth.
Transgender golfer Hayley Davidson takes care of her shots during the qualifying stage of the LPGA Q Series. (Riley Gaines/X)
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The second stage of qualifying will be held at Plantation Golf and Country Club in Millsboro, Delaware. It was delayed a week due to Hurricane Milton passing through the area.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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