by James Murphy
Biologically male golfer Hailey Davidson won the NXXT Women’s Classic tournament on Wednesday, making him potentially eligible for a coveted spot on the Epson Tour, the LPGA’s official developmental golf tour. Born in Scotland as James Scott Davidson, the 30-year-old golfer previously played collegiately as a male at Wilmington University in Delaware, but now seeks a spot on the women’s professional tour.
Davidson has reportedly met the LPGA’s gender-policy rules to compete as a female. To be considered for competition, a male must have declared his gender identity to be female, show proof of gender-reassignment surgery (which Davidson completed in 2021), and have evidence of at least one year of hormonal therapy while maintaining testosterone under a specific level. The LPGA dropped their “born female” restriction in 2010.
NXXT is a Florida-based mini-tour in partnership with the Epson Tour. Davidson won the tournament by shooting a one-over-par 73, which brought him to 4 over par for the tournament. He then won the title in a playoff, presumably with an actual female golfer. NXXT’s top five earners will earn two exemptions into Epson Tour events, providing the mini-tour hosts a minimum of 10 events with an average of 40 players.
As of right now, NXXT is well short of the minimum number of events, and time is running out to procure any more. The tour runs from November through March. Davidson currently sits atop the tour’s point list with 1,320, 150 points ahead of his closest competitor. In addition to his recent victory, he has accrued two second-place finishes and has finished in the top ten of each event he’s played in since November.
NXXT acknowledged concerns about Davidson’s victory in a statement.
“The recent discussions surrounding Hailey Davidson’s participation and success on our tour have highlighted a range of viewpoints. The NXXT Women’s Pro Tour acknowledges these perspectives while emphasizing that our policies and decisions are guided by the frameworks set by the LPGA and USGA. Our primary focus remains on supporting our players’ aspirations and contributing to their journey towards the LPGA,” the tour wrote.
“We understand that this topic evokes strong feelings and diverse viewpoints. We encourage constructive dialogue and respect for all athletes who strive to compete at the highest levels of their sport,” NXXT added.
The tour has requested that Davidson undergo additional testosterone testing, to be certain that he meets LPGA requirements.
Davidson sees no problem with his quest to take a tour spot from an actual female golfer.
“It’s always interesting how no one gets angry until there is any form of success,” he noted in a Saturday Instagram post. “While this win was amazing, unlike every article is saying, I am so incredibly far from the LPGA Tour with a lot of work to be done to possibly earn my way there one day.”
According to Davidson, misinformation and ignorance are the reasons why people are upset at his quest to play as a woman.
“It’s crazy the amount of misinformed hatred I have received so far today,” he wrote on Instagram. “All of these people (think) I hit it 300 yards or even 280 yards. How about 250 on a good day?”
NXXT argues that their policies regarding trans athletes make the situation fair for all competitors.
“This policy requires transgender athletes to provide a declaration of their gender identity, proof of gender reassignment surgery, and evidence of at least one year of hormonal therapy maintaining testosterone levels at a specified range. It also includes provisions for confidentiality and the recognition of decisions regarding gender verification made by other golf tours or sports authorities,” said NXXT Tour Director Bennett Noe.
“This alignment across the NXXT, LPGA, Epson Tour, and USGA ensures a consistent approach towards transgender athletes, emphasizing fair competition and integrity in the sport,” Noe explained.
But many actual females in women’s sports disagree.
“The NXXT tour is claiming just because their policy is uniformly and consistently unjust alongside the Epson Tour, LPGA and USGA that somehow that ensures ‘fairness and integrity in the sport,’” said Marshi Smith, co-founder of the Independent Council on Women’s Sports. “It is precisely the opposite. The question they must answer is ‘Do women deserve access to fair competition?’ If yes, they must adopt simple and clean rules that create a female-protected category without exception.”
Davidson apparently knows that any success he’s able to garner on a women’s tour will be viewed with skepticism.
“I guess that’s what frustrates me the most,” he said in 2021. “If I play bad, then people will feel justified – ‘Oh well, she played bad and wasn’t good enough.’ – If I do anything good, it won’t be because of the fact that I put my whole life into this … it would be because I’m trans.”
Actually, Hailey, it would be because you’ve taken a spot from a deserving woman in a highly competitive field. And despite whatever surgeries and hormones you may receive, you will never be a woman.
