Transgender golf star Hailey Davidson’s of making it to the LPGA Tour have come under fire after 275 female players signed a letter for her to be withdrawn from qualifying.
Davidson is in action in the penultimate stage of LPGA Tour Q-School this week, with the hopes of moving one step closer to the top level of women’s golf. However, the 31-year-old is facing huge opposition from fellow players, with a letter penned to the LPGA, the USGA, and the International Golf Federation.
The letter demands that Davidson is removed from qualifying, stopping her attempt to join the LPGA Tour. Per OutKick, the letter reads: “We all know there can be no equal athletic opportunity for women without a separate female golf category.
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“Yet, the Ladies Professional Golf Association continues to propagate a policy that allows male athletes to qualify, compete, and win in women’s golf, even as several national and international governing bodies of sport and state legislatures increasingly reject these unjust and inequitable policies that harm female athletes.
“LPGA policy does not explicitly state eligibility based on sex. 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. There are differences between the sexes – female and male – that specifically affect our sport of golf.”
The letter highlights the distance at which the ball can be hit as a key reason behind Davidson having an unfair advantage. The male advantage in driving the ball is estimated around a 30% performance advantage,” it read. “This is an enormous difference in the context of sport.
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Hailey Davidson has faced scrutiny (
Instagram: @haileydgolf)
“Anatomical differences between males and females affect clubhead speed and regulating consistency at ball contact. Females have higher mean heart rates and encounter greater physiological demands while playing, especially at high altitudes. The anatomical differences are not removed with male testosterone suppression.
“There is no way to turn a male into a female. Being female is not equated to being male with a reduction in strength.” Davidson has faced plenty of criticism over the past year in her quest to get herself to the top of women’s professional golf.
When it comes to distance of the tee, Davidson has previously argued that her having an advantage compared to her rivals is simply not the case. “There is this massive lie out there that I am outdriving everyone, which is just so very far from the truth and reality,” she said on Instagram.
“Clearly, conservative media needs to give these amazing female athletes way more credit, rather than belittle them and their capabilities in an attempt to attack transgender athletes.”