Scottish trans golfer to make history as top women’s player
Hailey, 29, set to clinch lucrative tour place
A SCOTTISH golfer was last night set to become the first transgender woman to a win a coveted place on the Ladies Professional Golf Association tour.
Hailey Davidson, 29, playing in a qualifying event in the US, needed just a score of less than 88 in the tournament’s third round to secure her place in history.
Last year Ms Davidson, originally from Stair, Ayrshire, became the first transgender golfer to win a professional tournament in the US.
Adding a lucrative tour card would enable her to compete in regular elite tournaments with golfers from around the world.
Following her tournament victory last May, she said she hoped to build on the historic win and ‘make Scotland proud’ by competing in future in the Open and Scottish Open championships. Ms Davidson
‘I’d love to reconnect with my family’
I hit the ball 270 yards and the longest woman player hits 291. I lost 30 yards from years of hormones and lack of testosterone... so what advantage do I have? – HAILEY DAVIDSON
began playing after moving to the US from Ayrshire in 1997 when her father Hamish relocated for work reasons.
She started hormone therapy in 2015, the year she last competed as a male, and had gender reassignment surgery last January.
The LPGA Tour removed a ‘female at birth’ requirement in 2010. Following hormone therapy, Ms Davidson completed her transition last year.
She said afterwards: ‘I’m very lucky that my mom was always there with me and, once my dad came around, he has been amazing. Unfortunately, I lost most friends at the time and some family distanced themselves.
‘I would love to reconnect with my family and sister and just let them know that I am the same person but far happier.’
She said after her reassignment surgery, she ‘finally feels whole’.
Ms Davidson won a mini-tour event at Providence Golf Club in Orlando, Florida, shortly afterwards, becoming the first trans woman to win a pro competition.
Her feat only became possible after the US Golf Association and LPGA changed their rules and allowed transgender athletes to compete without having to wait two years after reassignment surgery.
Ms Davidson said last year: ‘I know I have what it takes from being around professional golfers on the LPGA/PGA/Champions Tour over recent years and staying very competitive with them all.’
She believes the majority of criticism she has faced has been transphobic, rather than linked to arguments over golfing prowess, adding she now hits the ball 15mph slower than previously.
At the qualifying event at Shadow Ridge Golf Club in Palm Desert, California, she scored 70 in Thursday’s first round followed by 76 on Friday, with the third round played last night. Under LPGA rules, any player who shoots under 88 in each of the first three rounds earns 2023 tour status.
Ms Davidson has hit out at the notion she may be able to strike the ball further than female-born competitors. She said after a tournament last year: ‘I hit the ball 270 yards and the longest LPGA player hits 291. I lost 30 yards of distance from years of hormones and the lack of testosterone my body no longer creates – so, basically, what advantage do I have?’
Ms Davidson’s success comes as debate rages over rules for transgender athletes in women’s sports.
While professional bodies have their own rules, there has also been controversy at high school and college level in the US.
Earlier this year, Pennsylvania University swimmer Lia Thomas, who began competing in women’s swimming a year-and-a-half after transitioning, broke several women’s records. The National Collegiate Athletic Association and US Swimming bodies were criticised for allowing her to compete.
Professional swimming association FINA has since effectively banned trans women from competing, by saying they must have begun to transition before puberty kicks in, which is illegal or almost impossible to do in most of the US.