The Ladies Professional Golf Association could have someone who is not a lady competing in it in the coming years.
A biological male named Hailey Davidson has been trying to break on to the tour. For the second straight year, Davidson competed in the LPGA’s Qualifying School. Davidson missed the cut to make it to round four of the first stage of qualifiers by just one stroke this year.
This makes Davidson the second man who identifies as a transgender woman to try to qualify to be on the LPGA; Bobbi Lancaster attempted in 2013 but was unsuccessful. The attempts of transgender golfers to make it on to the LPGA tour show that not even golf is safe from biological men competing in women’s sports.
The biggest problem here is the affirmation of transgender identity. Our society should not feed into the delusion that a man, no matter how feminine he says he feels, can become a woman. Even though people who suffer from gender dysphoria deserve our compassion and need treatment for the issues bothering them — such as depression, anxiety, or substance abuse — that doesn’t make them a member of a different gender.
And athletically, it’s not fair to let men compete against women. Women’s professional golfers are far better at the sport than the average man who golfs for fun. However, a man’s capability in the sport exceeds that of a woman.
The average PGA golfer’s drive is about 290 yards, according to USA Today. That’s about 35 yards farther than the average LPGA drive (256 yards). It’s also about 15 yards farther than the average drive from the best driver in the LPGA, Bianca Pagdanganan (276.47 yards).
So while the LPGA has some restrictions in place to try to prevent every man who wants to from checking a box and taking over the league, the rules don’t eradicate the issues here. The LPGA’s gender policy says:
“The applicant must have undergone gender reassignment surgery (i.e., a gonadectomy) prior to submitting an application for membership or entering the tournament; and The applicant must have undergone, for at least one (1) year, appropriate hormonal therapy and maintained testosterone levels in a verifiable manner sufficient to minimize or negate gender-related advantages in sport competitions, as determined by LPGA in consultation with its medical advisor(s), and demonstrate that she is ready, willing and able to continue to maintain such levels for so long as she continues to compete in tournaments.” So the LPGA’s official stance affirms that men can be women and women can be men. Yet the athletic advantage still exists. A 2020 study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine said that even after one year of hormone therapy, men who identify as women retained an athletic advantage over women.
There are professional men’s golf tours, including the PGA and the disgraceful LIV Golf. If men want to play professional golf, they should try out for those leagues or some lesser professional tour. If not, they should stick to playing for fun at their local courses on the weekends and leave women’s golf to the women.
Tom Joyce (@TomJoyceSports) is a political reporter for the New Boston Post in Massachusetts.
