Transgender golfer Hailey Davidson secured a first alternate spot for the US Women’s Open, sparking backlash from a female professional.
Davidson, 30, narrowly missed out on automatic qualification for the Women’s US Open earlier this month but still has a chance to play in the major championship after securing the first alternate spot.
Davidson, a native of Scotland, finished tied for third in a 36-hole qualifying match at Bradenton Country Club.
She birdied the opening hole of the playoff to claim the first alternate spot ahead of two-time LPGA Tour winner Jasmine Suwannapura, who earned second alternate, and professional Louise Olsson Campbell.
Should enough players withdraw, Davidson will fill a spot at the 2024 U.S. Women’s Open, which will be played from May 30 to June 2 at Lancaster Country Club in Pennsylvania.
Transgender golfer Hailey Davidson has secured her first alternative spot for the US Women’s Open
She shared a photo of the USGA’s alternate instructions and wrote on social media, “So you’re telling me there’s a chance!!”
One of the 55 female golfers who competed in the Florida qualifying competition claimed that the decision to allow Davidson to participate in qualifying and possibly have a shot at the US Open was unfair.
“It’s not fair,” the player said OutKick – Mark Harris when asked if she believes it is fair for trans golfers to compete in women’s events.
‘There’s no other way to explain it [other] then when you castrate a male, it is still a male. We never call them [a] female dog.
‘I think that if the transgender wave gets more attention, or becomes more popular, we will do that [a] trans open to them.”
The player, who wished to remain anonymous, recalled a moment from the qualifying event when Davidson holed out from 40 feet from the green and celebrated by saying “f*** yeah” in the “lowest manly tone” she had all heard . day.
“Everyone was in shock and no one clapped,” the player said.
The LPGA’s gender policy, which also applies to the Epson Tour, Ladies European Tour, LET Access Series and LPGA Professionals competitions, still allows trans women to compete.
Davidson, who is originally from Scotland, shared a photo of the USGA’s alternative instructions
She urged her fans to “never give up” in the caption of her Instagram post last week
She birdied the opening hole of the play-off to claim the alternate spot after a three-way tie for third place
The LPGA Tour, which in 2010 eliminated the requirement for golfers to be “female at birth,” requires players to submit a written statement stating they identify as female, proof of gender reassignment surgery and proof of at least at least one year of hormonal therapy. maintaining testosterone levels at a certain range.
The USGA has also adopted a policy that allows biological male golfers to compete against biological females if they have undergone gender reassignment surgery and met hormone therapy requirements.
‘We continue to review our current situation in consultation with relevant medical, sports science and legal experts [gender] policy,” JD Sherba, director of public relations and executive communications for the LPGA, said in a statement to Outkick.
But the anonymous female player hit back at both the LPGA and USGA for their policies.
“I disagree with the LPGA and USGA. [I am] more concerns about the future of daughters around the world,” the player stated.
“Every woman on the tour works so hard to be on the tour and play golf [a] living. Women’s sports are not a fallback option for mediocre male athletes.’
Davidson had played on the NXXT – a professional women’s mini tour in Florida – and won the Women’s Classic at Mission Inn Resort and Club, a track event near Orlando in January.
The win allowed the Scot to move a step closer to the LPGA, with the NXXT granting its top five players exemptions to the Epson Tour – a step below the top level of the women’s game.
The LPGA’s gender policy still allows trans women to compete (Photo: Commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan)
Davidson is seen in 2015, prior to the transition
News of the win sparked outrage online, with many highlighting that Davidson could likely hit the ball further than a female-born player, prompting a U-turn from the NXXT.
The tour announced on International Women’s Day that it had reversed its gender policy and that, effective immediately, participants must be biologically female at birth to participate.
Davidson last competed in the NXXT at the Royal St. Cloud Women’s Championship in February, where she finished tied for 24th with a score of ten over for the tournament.
At the time, her only win and two second places in nine events saw her finish second in the Road to the Epson Tour standings.
Since being unable to compete for the past two and a half months, Davidson has dropped to fourth place – 200 points ahead of Lauren Peter in fifth.
The top five earners on the NXXT points list earn two field exemptions on the Epson Tour, the developmental feeder tour for the LPGA.
Before his about-face, NXXT stated in January that he would ask it to undergo “additional testing” in response to initial resistance to Davidson’s victory.
The move came despite her insistence that she no longer has any physiological advantages over her cisgender competitors.
She says she no longer has any physiological advantages over her cisgender competitors
At the time, Davidson had openly accepted the new regulations, while still insisting that after nearly a decade of taking hormones, she no longer had an advantage over her biological female rivals.
‘If I win, people will panic. I’m playing well and the whole world ends and ‘Oh, I’m destroying women’s golf now!’ and all these other things,” she told Sky Sports.
‘I recognize that I had an unfair advantage a few years ago. I have been in transition for nine years now, I have been taking hormones for almost nine years. I had surgery exactly in three years. I’ve lost almost 50 mph in swing speed.”
She added: “Trans athletes shouldn’t be banned, but at the same time there should be rules because it shouldn’t just be a free for all.
“I think with so many issues, as a society we just need to sit down and listen to each other, instead of yelling at each other and spreading hate about it.
“I think we forget that people are people at the same time.”
The NXXT also launched an anonymous survey among its players to gather their opinions on the tour’s gender policy, the results of which had not been made public.
Davidson last competed as a male golfer in 2015, before beginning hormone therapy treatments and undergoing gender reassignment surgery in 2021.
Davidson last competed as a male golfer in 2015, after which she began hormone treatments
The issue took center stage in 2022 when UPenn swimmer Lia Thomas, pictured, began competing in women’s swimming 18 months after transitioning to record-setting
Although Davidson failed to make the qualifiers that year, he remained competitive in other tournaments, finishing one match just three shots behind 2010 US Women’s Open champion Paula Creamer.
Although professional organizations such as the LPGA and PGA established their own rules and regulations many years ago, debates have recently erupted across the country over athletes competing in high school and college.
The issue took center stage in 2022 when UPenn swimmer Lia Thomas, who began competing in women’s swimming a year and a half after transferring.
Thomas went on to break several women’s records, much to the dismay of some of her teammates, and the NCAA and US Swimming organizations were criticized for allowing Thomas to compete.
