A golfer is about to become the first transgender woman to win a Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) tour ticket after beating much of her competition in the first two qualifying rounds.
Hailey Davidson, 29, had a strong finish in the opening two rounds of the first leg of the LPGA and Epson Tour Qualifying School in Palm Springs this week.
Davidson, a native of Scotland who lives in Florida, shot a 70 in the first round on Thursday at the Shadow Ridge Golf Club in Palm Desert, California, hitting a 76 in the second round on Friday, Fox news reported.
Under LPGA rules, any player who shoots under 88 after all three rounds will earn Epson Tour Status for 2023, the official qualifying tour for the LPGA.
Hailey Davidson, 29, is on track to become the first transgender woman to earn an LPGA tour card after successful showings in the first two days of Stage I qualifiers
Davidson, pictured practicing before the tournament started, shot a 70 in the first round on Thursday at Shadow Ridge Golf Club in Palm Desert, California, and a 76 in the second round on Friday. The third round will take place this weekend
Under LPGA rules, any player who shoots under 88 after all three rounds will earn Epson Tour Status for 2023, the official qualifying tour for the LPGA, a goal Davidson has been working towards after completing her transition in 2021.
Competing against 310 other women, Davidson is tied for 59th and appears to be in a good position to pass Stage One and move into Stage II against the top 100 players in October.
The LPGA Tour had abolished the ‘woman at birth’ requirement in 2010.
Davidson last competed as a male golfer in 2015, after which she began hormone therapy treatments and underwent gender reassignment surgery in 2021.
“I know I have what it takes to be around professional golfers on the LPGA/PGA/Champions Tour for the past few years and stay very competitive with all of them,” Davidson said in 2021 as he tried to raise money for a qualifying school.
“While I know I have the talent and the mental game to make a career out of playing, the initial costs of tournaments and practice costs are what really hold me back.”
Although Davidson failed to qualify that year, he remained competitive in other tournaments, finishing one game just three shots behind 2010 US Women’s Open champion Paula Creamer.
Most of Davidson’s time has been spent competing in the East Coast Women’s Pro Golf Tour, winning three of the last five summer qualifiers.
While the best male golfers can typically hit the ball farther than their female counterparts, Davidson argues that most of the criticism of her participation in the women’s circuit is transphobic rather than genuine dialogue about the sport.
Davidson said that after her transition, she now hits the ball 15 mph slower.
“I’ve seen that it’s not about protecting women’s sports or giving me an advantage, but you don’t like trans people,” Davidson said of her opponents on the Like It Is podcast.
“It’s very sad that it comes to that. That’s what I’ve been learning over the past few months.’
Davidson last competed as a male golfer in 2015, after which she began hormone therapy treatments. She has competed in the East Coast Women’s Pro Golf Tour
Davidson said that after her transition, she now hits the ball 15 mph slower, adding that she doesn’t have much of an advantage over other female golfers
Davidson claims that most of the criticism of her participation in the women’s circuit is transphobic rather than genuine dialogue about the sport
Davidson’s expected first-round success comes amid a culture war in America over regulations to allow transgender athletes to compete in women’s sports.
While professional bodies such as the LPGA and PGA create their own rules and regulations, debates have erupted across the country about athletes competing in high school and college.
The issue took center stage this year with UPenn swimmer Lia Thomas, who began competing in women’s collegiate swimming a year and a half after the transition.
Thomas went on to break several women’s records, much to the dismay of some of her teammates, and the NCAA and US Swimming bodies were criticized for allowing Thomas to compete.
The professional competitive swimming association FINA has since effectively banned trans women from participating in the sport, saying they must have started menopause before puberty started, which is illegal or nearly impossible in most of the US.
By the summer, 18 states had banned transgender students from participating in girls’ sports.
One notable example is Ohio, which has passed a bill requiring students accused of being transgender to produce a doctor’s note detailing their sexual anatomy, their testosterone levels, and their genetic makeup.
In New Jersey, Republican lawmakers proposed the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act, which would require female student athletes to verify the nature of their genitals in order to compete.
The bill’s sponsor, Senator Michael Testa, likened genitals checks to random drug tests that college athletes are subjected, and said he didn’t see any problems with angry parents accusing girls of being transgender.