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Transgender golfer Hailey Davidson filed a lawsuit against the NXXT women’s golf circuit in December after changing its policies aimed at preventing biological men from competing against women.
NXXT and its attorneys at the America First Policy Institute filed their motion to dismiss this week and believe the suit will be dismissed.
“We are asking the courts to dismiss the claims and we are handling the matter,” 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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Transgender golfer Hailey Davidson takes care of her shot during the pre-qualifying round of the LPGA Q-Series. (Riley Gaines/X)
McKinnon said that after the organization updated its policies, he contacted Davidson to offer the golfer a chance to play on the tour for free in an open category, and that he would even pay for Davidson’s Q School — an annual multi-stage tournament where golfers compete for player status on the PGA Tour and Korn Ferry Tour.
“I had a conversation with Davidson. And at that time, before the change, I had offered Davidson the opportunity to play in an open division. And in that open division, I had offered Hayley Davidson the chance to play in that open division and even a managerial position in that open division, and we would allow Davidson to play for free,” McKinnon said.
“We would pay the Q School tuition for Davidson. So we were very generous and respectful of what Davidson wanted to do. And my message to Davidson was just that maybe your legacy is paving the way for future generations. But that can’t be the case now in this women’s tour, when I’m leading it, and we’re going to make a policy change.”
McKinnon said the trans athlete rejected the offer.
Now his tour is locked in a legal battle with Davidson. It was an outcome he expected when he made the policy change, but he believed it was necessary based on feedback from his golfers.
McKinnon said he made the decision after distributing an anonymous survey to golfers on his tour, with the vast majority expressing concern about Davidson’s presence.
“We did an anonymous player survey, and we got a high response rate in a very short period of time. Within two or three days, we had a response rate of over 80 percent, and it was clear that the players, you know, were talking, that they felt the policy change was in order,” McKinnon said.
“The theme was that it was unfair and they wanted us to review our policies.”
McKinnon said a few female golfers have expressed support for maintaining the current policy and allowing Davidson to compete.
“We just respectfully disagreed with each other,” McKinnon said.
McKinnon had to watch Davidson finish first on the tour in January 2024, marking Davidson’s third first place finish at the event. The win put Davidson in the running to earn an exemption from the Epson Tour, which is the developmental tour of the LPGA Tour. The top 10 players on the Epson Tour graduated from the LPGA Tour.
At the time, LPGA policy allowed biological males to compete without many restrictions.
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.
Now, as Davidson wages a legal battle against NXXT for being a pioneer in protecting women’s golf, McKinnon doesn’t expect the lawsuit to hamper his tour’s operations.
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“Nothing has changed from an operational standpoint. We’re going to continue to grow,” McKinnon said.
“We’ve expanded the tour from the NXXT Women’s Pro Tour to the NXXT Battle Tour, which is a mixed professional tour that we’re launching, as well as our NXXT Gen Tour, which is our junior tour. It’s a competitive course for elite juniors, men and women. And we just announced a partnership with Sir Nick Faldo for the NEXT Faldo Junior Tour. So all the systems are in place here at NXXT. We’re growing the course. We’re growing the tour.”
Transgender golfer Hailey Davidson during the LPGA Q-Series pre-qualifying round. (Riley Gaines/X)
PK Press Club Digital has reached out to Davidson’s lawyers for a response.
Davidson’s lawsuit contends that NXXT breached its contractual obligations and made false statements to Davidson, leading to wrongful exclusion from professional golf opportunities.
“Defendants breached the Contracts by implementing the policy change that prevented Ms. Davidson from participating in the entire NXXT Winter Series; by not allowing Ms. Davidson to participate in any NXXT Winter Series tournaments after the policy change; by retaining Ms. Davidson’s annual NXXT Golf membership fees and entry fees into NXXT Winter Series tournaments; and by failing to grant Ms. Davidson the Epson exemptions she had earned,” the lawsuit states.
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