A golfer is on track to become the first transgender woman to acquire a Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) tour card after dominating in the first two qualifying rounds.
This week in Palm Springs, Hailey Davidson, 29, had a good finish in the first two rounds of the first stage of the LPGA and Epson Tour Qualifying School. Fox News stated that Davidson, a native of Scotland who resides in Florida, shot a first-round score of 70 at the Shadow Ridge Golf Club in Palm Desert, California, on Thursday, and a second-round score of 76 on Friday.
According to the LPGA’s standards, any golfer who shoots under 88 throughout the course of all three rounds will receive 2023 Epson Tour Status, the LPGA’s official qualifying tour.
Davidson is tied for 59th place against 310 other women and appears to be in a solid position to pass the first stage and advance to Stage II in October against the top 100 players.
In 2010, the LPGA Tour eliminated its ‘female at birth’ criteria.
Davidson competed as a male golfer for the last time in 2015, after which she received hormone therapy and gender conversion surgery in 2021.
Davidson stated in 2021, while attempting to gather funds for qualifying school, “I believe I have what it takes because I’ve been around professional golfers on the LPGA/PGA/Champions Tour for the past few years and have remained quite competitive with them all.”
The initial cost of tournaments and practice fees is what genuinely prevents me from pursuing a career in playing, despite the fact that I am aware of my talent and mental prowess.
Despite failing to qualify for the 2010 U.S. Women’s Open, Davidson remained competitive in other tournaments, finishing one match just three strokes behind 2010 champion Paula Creamer.
Davidson has spent the most of her time participating on the East Coast Women’s Pro Golf Tour, winning three of her past five matches prior to summer qualifying. Although the best male golfers can often drive the ball further than their female counterparts, Davidson argues that most of the criticism she receives for competing in the women’s circuit is transphobic rather than a genuine discussion of the sport.
Davidson stated that following her adjustment, she now strikes the ball 15 mph slower.
Davidson stated on the Like It Is podcast: “I’ve seen that it’s not about defending women’s sports or me having an advantage; it’s just that you don’t like transgender people.”
“It’s quite unfortunate that this is the case. In the past few months, I’ve come to understand this. The anticipated success of Davidson in the first round coincides with a culture war in the United States over restrictions regarding the eligibility of transgender athletes to compete in women’s sports.
Although professional organizations such as the LPGA and PGA have their own rules and regulations, controversies have erupted across the nation regarding high school and college athletes competing.
This year, the topic was brought to the forefront by Penn swimmer Lia Thomas, who began competing in women’s collegiate swimming a year after transitioning.
Thomas broke multiple women’s records, much to the dismay of several of her colleagues, and the NCAA and US Swimming committees were chastised for permitting her to compete.
Since then, the professional swimming association FINA has virtually banned trans women from competing in the sport on the grounds that they must have began their transition before puberty, which is unlawful or very impossible in the majority of the United States.
18 states had banned transgender students from participating in girls’ sports by the summer.
Ohio, for instance, approved a law requiring students accused of being transgender to submit a doctor’s note describing their sexual anatomy, testosterone levels, and genetic composition.
In New Jersey, Republican legislators have proposed the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act, which would require female student-athletes to certify their genitalia in order to compete.
Sen. Michael Testa, the bill’s sponsor, compared genitalia checks to random drug tests administered to college athletes and said he did not foresee any issues with angry parents accusing girls of being transgender.