Transgender golfer Hailey Davidson starts next Q school stage despite 275 female golfers opposing LPGA policy

Transgender golfer Hailey Davidson teed up on Tuesday for the second stage of qualifying for her LPGA Tour card despite a group of 275 female golfers opposing the organization's policies allowing those assigned male at birth to compete in women’s events. 

Davison got through the pre-qualifying stage of Q-School back in August, finishing T-42nd despite the vast number of female golfers voicing their displeasure 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 the International Golf Federation (IGF) on Aug. 19, which was three days before Davidson competed in the pre-qualifying stage.

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But that letter clearly didn’t change anything, as Davison went on to shoot an opening round 78 on Tuesday as she continues to vie for an LPGA Tour card. 

Davidson has her tied for 171st place out of the 194-person field. Only the top 35, and those tied for those positions, will advance to the final qualifying. Those players that compete in all four rounds of the second qualifying stage will get limited status on the Epson Tour, which is a step below the LPGA Tour. 

The LPGA’s current gender policy allows transgender golfers to participate as long as gender-affirming surgery is done after puberty and hormone therapy requirements have been met. 

Davidson has been vocal about her transition, and she defended herself in August after moving on to the next stage. 

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"Every year I have played at Q School, the players have gotten longer and longer to where I was being outdriven by 40 yards consistently in the final round yesterday by one player," Davidson wrote in an Instagram. "Honestly I love seeing it though, especially since their [sic] is this massive lie out there that I am outdriving everyone, which is just so very far from the truth and reality. 

"Clearly conservative media needs to give these amazing female athletes WAY more credit rather than belittle them and their capabilities all in an attempt to attack transgender athletes."

Davidson began hormone treatments in 2015 and had gender-affirming surgery in 2021. 

The female golfers who signed the letter to the various golf organizations are current and former players. 

"It is essential for the integrity and fairness of women’s golf to have a clear and consistent participation policy in place based on a player’s immutable sex," the letter read. "There are differences between the sexes — female and male — that specifically affect our sport of golf."

Golfweek obtained a memo from LPGA commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan in August, which said the LPGA Tour and Epson Tour will conclude a review of its gender policy by the end of the year, where changes, if any, will be implemented before the start of next season. 

Davidson, who played men’s college golf at both Wilmington University in Delaware and Christopher Newport in Virginia, nearly qualified for the U.S. Women’s Open this year. She has been at the center of controversy in the sport throughout 2024, and she hasn’t been afraid to speak up on her end. 

"I will never understand athletes who blame a transgender competitor on their own athletic failures," Davidson wrote on Instagram while practicing for Q School. "If you don’t take accountability for your failures then you will never actually be good enough to make it."

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Davidson also criticized the NXXT Women’s Pro Tour after it announced in March that eligible participants on tour must be a "biological female at birth" in order to compete. 

"Effective immediately, I have been removed (banned) from the next 3 NXXT tournaments that I already signed up for and been approved to play," Davidson wrote on her Instagram Stories at the time. 

"They changed their policy mid season, after me signing up already and being 2nd in Player of the Year race." 

Davidson had won the Women’s Classic on Jan. 18, which was her first victory in more than two years and put her in position to earn an Epson Tour exemption at the end of the season. 

NXXT Golf wasn’t the only tour to update its policy this year, as the Cactus Tour in Arizona announced in September that competitors also must be female at birth. 

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The second qualifying stage is being played at Plantation Golf and Country Club in Millsboro, Delaware. It was delayed one week due to Hurricane Milton rolling through the area. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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