Transgender golfer Hailey Davidson has criticised female athletes who have complained about her success.
Davidson, who was banned from competing in NXXT golf tournaments earlier this year, posted on Instagram: ‘I will never understand athletes who blame a transgender competitor for their own sporting failures.
“If you don’t take responsibility for your failures, you’ll never be good enough to succeed.”
Davidson, who was born in Scotland, has been sharing videos of herself practicing for Q School, which is a potential route to qualifying for the LPGA Tour.
According to the LPGA, they have an inclusion policy for transgender athletes who undergo surgery after male puberty.
Davidson, who was born in Scotland, has been sharing videos of herself practicing for the Q School, which is a potential pathway for her to qualify for the LPGA Tour.
According to the LPGA, they have an inclusion policy for transgender athletes who undergo surgery after male puberty.
In 2010, the LPGA Tour removed the requirement that golfers be “female at birth” in a policy change.
They require players to submit a written statement indicating they identify as female, proof of gender reassignment surgery and evidence of at least one year of hormone therapy to maintain testosterone levels in a specific range.
Its policy states that its goal is to offer “(transgender athletes) a pathway to membership and the opportunity to participate in events, and in an effort to ensure fair competition for all members and participants.”
It continues: ‘An applicant for membership or tournament entry who has experienced a gender change from male to female after puberty must identify themselves during the application/entry process and provide proof of gender in accordance with this Policy.
‘Failure to provide proof of gender when gender has been reassigned, and failure to comply with the process and procedures set out in this Policy, may result in disqualification from eligibility for membership and/or entry into a tournament.
‘If there is a genuine doubt as to the eligibility of any applicant, including through sponsor exemptions or qualifiers, the LPGA shall have the right, in its sole discretion, to require such athlete to justify his or her transition status in accordance with this Policy.’
Davidson earned a spot as first alternate for the US Women’s Open earlier this year in May, prompting a backlash from one female pro.
Davidson is seen in 2015, before the transition.
One of the golfers who competed in the qualifier in Florida said the decision to allow Davidson to compete in the qualifier and potentially have a shot at the US Open was unfair.
“It’s not fair,” the player, who preferred to remain anonymous, told OutKick’s Mark Harris when asked if she thinks it’s fair for trans golfers to compete in women’s events.
‘There’s no other way to explain it than if you neuter a male dog, it’s still a male dog. We never call them bitches.
“I think if transgender golf is getting more attention, meaning it’s popular, then let’s make golf open to them.”
The player, who asked to remain anonymous, recalled a moment in the qualifying event when Davidson holed out from 40 feet off the green and celebrated by saying “fuck yeah” in the “lowest masculine tone” she had heard all day.
Davidson had played on NXXT, a women’s professional mini-tour in Florida, and won the Women’s Classic at Mission Inn Resort and Club, a circuit event near Orlando in January.
The win allowed the Scot to take a step closer to the LPGA, with the NXXT granting its top five players exemptions to the Epson Tour, one step below the top level of the women’s game.
Then, on International Women’s Day, the tour announced that it had reversed its gender policy and that, effective immediately, competitors must be biologically female at birth to participate.
Davidson last competed as a male golfer in 2015, after which she began hormone therapy treatments and underwent gender reassignment surgery in 2021.
