LPGA finally takes a stance in the transgender debate

Yesterday we witnessed what I believe is a truly significant moment in women's professional sport, as the LPGA and USGA updated their gender policies to state that (in the case of the LPGA) "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. Players assigned male at birth and who have gone through male puberty are not eligible to compete in the aforementioned events."

I say women's sport because this change in policy sends out a message to the wider women's sport community that golf is protecting its female category, something that many sports are still grappling over.

However, there will be many who will have wondered why it took the LPGA so long to update their policy, considering the continued media coverage around transgender golfer Hailey Davidson over the last three years.

Davidson has been a prominent figure in the debate surrounding gender policies in professional golf. With her participation in women’s events sparking intense discussion. While Davidson met the LPGA's previous eligibility requirements - including hormone suppression levels - her performance caused a lot of media coverage and conversations about the competitive edge retained by transgender athletes who have undergone male puberty.

Davidson defended their inclusion in women’s golf, emphasisng her adherence to existing rules and the personal challenges she had faced as a transgender athlete. Rightly or wrongly, she became a symbol of the broader tensions between inclusion and fairness in women’s sports, pushing the LPGA to evaluate its policies amid mounting scrutiny.

But transgender inclusion is not new to women’s golf

Whilst Davidson looked to blaze a trail on LPGA, she was not the first transwoman to compete on tour. Danish professional Mianne Bagger became the first openly transitioned woman to play in a professional event – teeing it up alongside Dame Laura Davis in 2004 at the AAMI Women’s Australian Open.

After continued lobbying by Bagger, the Ladies European Tour were first to make changes to its membership criteria to include transwomen. This created a knock-on effect.

Golf’s transgender timeline:

September 2004 – LET amends its membership criteria.

November 2004 – The now WPGA Tour (Women’s Professional Golf Association Tour of Australasia) votes in favour of changing their constitution to remove the 'female at birth' clause.

February 9, 2005 – The Ladies Golf Union announces a policy change to allow Bagger to compete in the now AIG Women's Open.

March 2005 – The United States Golf Association (USGA) announces it’s adopted a new 'gender policy' that allows transitioned athletes to compete in USGA golf championships, including the U.S. Women's Open.

2010 – LPGA amends their bylaws and removed the "female at birth" entry condition.

Although the various policy changes have enabled transitioned athletes to compete, the policies always remained under review. Which also included the removal of the need to be two years post reassignment surgery to compete on the LPGA or in USGA events.

In Davidson’s case, this meant that she could compete at 2021 LPGA Q-School. After undergoing hormone treatment since September 24, 2015, she only went through gender reassignment surgery in January 2021.

Pressuring the LPGA

From the outside looking in, it appeared that the negative media coverage and increasing resistance to transgender women competing on the LPGA and LET did not seem to get the LPGA taking action. In fact, it was a recent campaign from the Independent Women's Forum (IWF) in America that seems to have finally had impact.

The LPGA’s decision to revise its gender eligibility policy came after sustained pressure from players and advocacy groups, including the IWF. Central to this campaign were professional golfers Lauren Miller, Hannah Arnold, Dana Fall, and recently retired LPGA professional Amy Olsen, who joined forces to champion fairness in women’s sports

In August over 275 female golfers sent a letter voicing their concerns over a biological male competing in women's golf to the LPGA, United States Golf Association (USGA), and the International Golf Federation (IGF), three days before the opening round of LPGA pre-qualifying stage of Q-School.

After the letter seemed to fall on deaf ears, Miller, Fall, Arnold, and Olson joined IWF as ambassadors to build awareness and help activate a global letter campaign that enabled the public to send a personalised letter to the LPGA to demand change.

The IWF also produced an exclusive docu-series called Tee Time: Keep Women’s Golf Female, which featured stories from female golfers who have been forced to share the course with and compete against male golfers in the women’s division.

In one final rallying cry, the IWF hoped that with news that LPGA Commissioner Mollie Marcoux Saaman was standing down, the new Commissioner would be able to make the change. But it turned out they only had to wait 24 hours.

LPGA and USGA update gender policies

Wednesday 4th December marks the day that the governing body for golf in America and the largest women’s golf professional tour took a stand for the rights of female born athletes.

Debate will surely ensue but for now, it's clear where we stand when it comes to elite level women’s golf on tour.

Now eyes turn to The R&A, who is expected to follow suit and adopt this same policy in January which would impact golf outside of the USA and Mexico.

The next question is what will happen at golf club level? How do we make sure that one of the most inclusive sports makes everyone feel welcome and continue to enable everyone to compete on a level playing field?

What are your thoughts? Email me [email protected]