LPGA announces change to gender rules

The LPGA and USGA have made a significant update to its gender participation policy. 

Tour pro Olivia Schmidt was among players who called for the changes “to protect female players” after Hailey Davidson’s bid to become the first transgender golfer to play on the LPGA Tour earlier this year came shortly after a letter was signed by 275 female golfers calling for her to be withdrawn.

But the new rules say players must be assigned female at birth or have transitioned to female before going through male puberty to take part in LPGA-sanctioned or USGA-governed events.

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The policy reads: “Under the new policy, athletes who are assigned female at birth are eligible to compete on the LPGA Tour, Epson Tour, Ladies European Tour, and in all other elite LPGA competitions. Players assigned male at birth and who have gone through male puberty are not eligible to compete in the aforementioned events.”

LPGA commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan, who announced her resignation on Monday, said: “Our policy is reflective of an extensive, science-based and inclusive approach.

“The policy represents our continued commitment to ensuring that all feel welcome within our organisation, while preserving the fairness and competitive equity of our elite competitions.”

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Mike Whan, the former LPGA commissioner and now CEO of the USGA, told the Associated Press: “We tried not to get into politics, or state by state or any of that stuff. We just simply said, ‘Where would somebody — at least medically today — where do we believe somebody would have a competitive advantage in the field?’ And we needed to draw a line.

“We needed to be able to walk into any women’s event and say with confidence that nobody here has a competitive advantage based on their gender. And this policy delivers that.

“Will that change in the years to come as medicine changes? Probably, but I think today this stacks up.”

The Competitive Fairness Gender Policy will take effect from the start of the 2025 season.

You can read the full gender policy on the LPGA website.

Alex Perry is the Associate Editor of bunkered. A journalist for more than 20 years, he has been a golf industry stalwart for the majority of his career and, in a five-year spell at ESPN, covered every sporting event you can think of. He completed his own Grand Slam at the 2023 Masters, having fallen in love with the sport at his hometown club of Okehampton and on the links of nearby Bude & North Cornwall.

Associate Editor