Women's golf tour owner reveals harrowing experience with trans golfer that sparked push for new LPGA ban
The LPGA's new rule that bans post-puberty biological males from pro women's golf competition has been widely celebrated by women's sports activists after it was passed this week.
However, it has also earned gripes from transgender golfer Hailey Davidson, who spoke out against the ban in an Instagram story on Thursday and claimed the LPGA did not seek Davidson's input on the decision.
Davidson's participation resulted in one of the sport's first bans of a trans athlete earlier in March and provided evidence that doing so might be met with more praise than backlash.
This happened after venture capitalist Stuart McKinnon purchased and took control of the NXXT Golf Tour in January 2023, when Davidson was already a participant.
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"I was advised that Hailey was a transgender, and I asked Hailey for some proof of verification that there's eligibility to play, and I had a partnership with the LPGA, so I'm following their rules, and I was provided with a letter from the USGA (United States Golf Association) and a letter from the LPGA by Hailey stating that Hailey was qualified to play in USGA and LPGA sanctioned events," McKinnon said during an X spaces conversation on Thursday with the Independent Council on Women's Sports.
McKinnon learned that trans athletes were very much permitted to participate in the tour he had just purchased. It was a purchase he had made because he wanted to create more opportunities for women's golfers, he said. However, Davidson became a part of that investment because of the institutional rules protecting trans athletes.
"I'm trying to help these ladies and I didn't want to break the rules with the LPGA because, ultimately, I was afraid," McKinnond said, adding that his specific fear was that of the tour's players missing out on exemptions to qualify for other LPGA events.
McKinnon had to watch Davidson finish first place on the tour this past January, marking Davidson's third first-place finish at the event. The win put Davidson in the race to earn an Epson Tour exemption, which is the developmental tour of the LPGA Tour. The top 10 players of the Epson Tour graduate to the LPGA Tour.
After watching Davidson perform up close on the tour he had purchased, McKinnon had come to the belief that it was not fair.
"Davidson won an event… I wasn't at the event, but I was dialed in, hearing what was going on, and Hailey started to dominate," McKinnon said. "As a father of five daughters, I'm here to protect my daughters and protect females, and I can tell you, like, I'm the type of father, if I was watching my daughter playing soccer and there was a male that was playing against her, and he was 240 lbs, barreling down the field, I would have gone on the field and I would have stopped it.
"It's something that can cause, in certain sports, physical damage to a player. In this case, it's not the case in golf, but we clearly felt there was an advantage for Hailey Davidson."
McKinnon and NXXT banned Davidson from the tour in March. It was a landmark moment for the fight against trans inclusion in women's golf and sparked national controversy. At the time, Davidson was second in the mini tour’s season standings.
McKinnon simply could not stand to watch Davidson and the golfer's overpowering swings on his tour anymore.
"Hailey would spew off some things on social media, ‘I only hit it 255' or whatever the number is, and I can unequivocally tell you that that's incorrect," McKinnon said. "Our team was behind Hailey, I could say, I was told once, dead into the wind, 25 an hour and clocked at 269 [mph]. So it's not 255."
McKinnon and his colleagues at NXXT began to consult with scientists and experts about a case to ban Davidson from the tour. McKinnon said he sent out an anonymous poll to all the tour's players about what they would like to see happen with Davidson.
McKinnon said the poll had to be anonymous because players were fearful of answering with their names because they were scared they would be "canceled." He also claims the anonymous responses were "overwhelmingly" in favor of making a change regarding Davidson's eligibility.
"I sat down with my family, I sat down with all of my daughters and said ‘We’re in this together or not. We potentially will get a lot of backlash, a lot of hatred, people will be against us for this,' and we decided we needed to do what we felt was the right thing, and we did it.," McKinnon said.
However, McKinnon says the decision did not prompt the backlash he warned his daughters about.
"We didn't get sued yet, and we didn't get the negative backlash, it was minimal at best, our lawyers were astonished how much little backlash there was, and it was a lot of love and support," McKinnon said.
McKinnon went on to commend the LPGA for following his lead and passing their recent rule, insisting that it took more courage for the LPGA to do it over his lead because the association had to weigh the possibility of losing sponsorship deals, which it hasn't yet.
Multiple women's golfers have come forward to praise and celebrate the LPGA's rule change on Wednesday that bars post-pubescent males from competing against females in pro competition.
The Independent Women's Forum released a press release in which several women golfers spoke in favor of the ruling later on Wednesday. These golfers include Lauren Miller, Hannah Arnold, Dana Fall and Amy Olson.
Miller said that she and female colleagues in pro golf have said "no more" to the issues of competing against biological males with the statement.
"This announcement from the LPGA and USGA gives me hope for the future of women’s golf," Miller said. "The movement of female professional golfers was essential and has been heard — we’ve stood up and said, ‘No more’. By acknowledging the distinctions between men and women, golf leadership is uniting with us in their desire to champion women and girls by restoring a space that prioritizes fair competition. Today, women have won."
Olson, meanwhile, insisted that the biological differences between men and women should be acknowledged in sports.
"This is a positive step forward, recognizing that an individual’s chromosomes affect their physical development in ways that are irreversible," Olson said.
Fox News Digital has reached out to Davidson for comment but has not received a response.
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