Women's Pro Golf Tour Defends Decision To Ban Transgender Golfers, Believes Males Have Physiological Edge

NXXT Golf, the women's professional tour that has banned transgender golfers from competing, was prepared for the pushback it would receive from the LGBTQ+ community following its decision. Those criticisms from the common-sense-ignoring crowd have come, but NXXT Golf CEO Stuart McKinnon is not second-guessing anything amid the outrage.

NXXT Golf announced changes to its gender policy on March 8, which happened to be International Women's Day. The announcement stated, "This decision underscores the organization’s commitment to maintaining the integrity of women's professional golf and ensuring fair competition." All competitors on the NXXT tour must be a biological female at birth to participate moving forward.

McKinnon joined Will Cain on ‘Fox & Friends Weekend’ on Sunday and emphasized that the decision was not made lightly.

"We didn't make this decision lightly. We knew it was a polarizing topic and would evoke a lot of emotions from people out there," McKinnon told Cain. "We took a lot of time in educating ourselves, spoke to many stakeholders in the golfing community and the sporting community at large from coaches and players and doctors and scientists, and educated ourselves."

"It really came down to one principle, and that was about competitive fairness," he continued. "We felt that the biological male had a physiological advantage against the woman on the tour, and we made the decision to change."

NXXT's change in gender policy immediately bans transgender golfer Hailey Davidson, a three-time winner on the tour, from competing. Davidson made headlines earlier this year following a win at the Women's Classic in January. Davidson, who played college golf on multiple men's teams, currently ranks second in the tour's season-long standings having made nine starts this season.

Davidson reacted to NXXT's decision claiming that the ban is somehow a slap in the face to all female athletes.

Davidson sounded off on the ban on Instagram, writing, "You know what really bugs me is that people think I win just by showing up. This is such a slap in the face to ALL female athletes being told that any male can transition and beat them regardless of the life of hard work those women put in… You think your (sic) attacking me but your actually attacking and putting doen [sic] ALL other female athletes."

In reality, the ban is nothing but a win for all female athletes.

NXXT became the second women's mini-tour in the United States to ban transgender athletes from competing with the Arizona-based Cactus Tour doing the same in February.