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Transgender golfer Hailey Davidson has sued the LPGA and USGA over their policies barring biological males who have undergone male puberty from participating in women’s competitions.
The LPGA said in a statement that it was aware of the lawsuit and would “let this process play out in the appropriate forum.”
“The LPGA Gender Policy was developed through a thoughtful and expert-informed process and is grounded in protecting the competitive integrity of elite women’s golf,” the statement said.
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The USGA and LPGA have changed their gender policies for events in 2025 and beyond, stating that players must be assigned female at birth or have transitioned to female before going through male puberty to compete.
Davidson, 33, didn’t transition until after puberty. Davidson competed in a US Open qualifier and an LPGA qualifying school under a different policy in 2024, failing in both efforts.
Davidson claimed in the lawsuit that the new policy effectively prohibits transgender women from participating in USGA or LPGA women’s events because many states prevent children from taking hormones or blocking puberty.
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When the USGA denied Davidson entry into qualifying, Davidson claimed that Hackensack Golf Club violated the law by claiming that the USGA controlled all decisions regarding eligibility. Davidson began hormone treatments in her early 20s in 2015 and underwent gender-affirming surgery in 2021, which was required by the LPGA’s previous gender policy.
Davidson also filed a lawsuit against the NXXT women’s golf circuit in December after it changed its policies aimed at preventing biological males from competing against women.
NXXT and its attorneys at America First Legal filed a motion to dismiss in February and believe the suit will be dismissed.
“We are asking the courts to dismiss the claims and we are addressing the issue,” Stuart McKinnon, CEO of NXXT Golf, told PK Press Club Digital.
“It was just about protecting women’s sport. So the goal was really clarity and competitive integrity and as a professional tour we felt it was our responsibility to define those categories.”
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NXXT was one of the first women’s tours to commit to policy change. The LPGA then amended its own policy to introduce more restrictions to protect the women’s category in December 2024.
