Transgender Golfer Hailey Davidson Fails To Earn LPGA Card But Does Earn Status On Women's Epson Tour
Transgender golfer Hailey Davidson failed to advance out of the second stage of LPGA Qualifying School, which brings Davidson's quest at earning an LPGA card to an end, at least for now.
Davidson finished the four-round event at 2-over, which put them in a tie for 95th out of the 190 players that completed all four rounds. A total of 43 players advanced to the final stage of Q-School with 4-under being the cut line, meaning Davidson fell six shots short of advancing to December's final stage.
Davidson did earn status on the Epson Tour, which is the main feeder tour to the LPGA and equivalent to the Korn Ferry Tour on the men's side. It's unlikely that the status will result in a start on the Epson Tour for Davidson, however.
Players who finished inside the Top 80 at the second stage but failed to advance to the final stage will be placed into Category I on next year's Epson Tour priority list. Players who completed all 72 holes and finished outside of the Top 80, like Davidson, will be placed into Category K in order of their qualifying finish at second stage.
As Beth Ann Nichols of Golfweek noted, there were 217 players ahead of Category K on the 2024 Epson Tour priority list. Davidson will very likely be way too far down the priority list to simply sign up for an event on the Epson Tour.
Bobbi Lancaster was the first transgender golfer to earn status on the Epson Tour back in 2013, but never competed in an official event.
Hailey Davidson failed to advance through the second stage of LPGA Q-School. (OutKick/MattReigle)
Female Golfers Send Letter To Golf's Governing Bodies
Davidson was eligible to compete in LPGA Q-School based on the LPGA's current gender policy, but her inclusion went against the opinion of hundreds of female golfers who do not agree that a transgender athlete should be allowed to compete against women.
Last week, the Independent Women's Forum shared with OutKick that over 275 female golfers sent a letter to the LPGA, United States Golf Association (USGA), and the International Golf Federation (IGF) on August 19, three days before the opening round of the pre-qualifying stage of Q-School.
"We all know there can be no equal athletic opportunity for women without a separate female golf category. Yet, the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) 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," the letter read in part.
"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 LPGA essentially ignored those letters given that Davidson teed it up in the event and advanced to the second stage of Q-School, taking an opportunity away from a biological female in the tournament field.