The USGA and LPGA announced on Wednesday that the majority of biological males (transgender athletes) will no longer be allowed to compete in women’s golf events starting next year. 

According to the policy, which was released on Wednesday, “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.” 

The policy leaves open the possibility that a biological male who “transitioned” prior to puberty could still compete in women’s professional events. 

But the policy excludes Hailey Davidson, who OutKick’s Mark Harris has covered extensively. 

As Harris reported in October, “Davidson failed to advance out of the second stage of LPGA Qualifying School” but “did earn status on the Epson Tour, which is the main feeder tour to the LPGA and equivalent to the Korn Ferry Tour on the men’s side.” 

However, with the new guidelines in place, Davidson – who did not “transition” until Davidson was around 20 years old – is not eligible to compete on the LPGA or Epson Tour. 

Davidson weighed-in on Instagram and complained that “silence” caused the LPGA and USGA to enact a common-sense policy. 

“Can’t say I didn’t see this coming,” Davidson wrote. “All the silence and people wanting to stay ‘neutral’ thanks for absolutely nothing. This happened because of all your silence.”

Actually, this happened because the USGA and LPGA decided to listen to science. They even stated that: 

“The policy—informed by a working group of top experts in medicine, science, sport physiology, golf performance and gender policy law—was developed with input from a broad array of stakeholders and prioritizes the competitive integrity of women’s professional tournaments and elite amateur competitions,” the LPGA press release reads.

“This working group has advised that the effects of male puberty confer competitive advantages in golf performance compared to players who have not undergone male puberty.” 

In other words: men have an inherent physical advantage over women in sports. 

In other words: duh. 

Riley Gaines, host of the OutKick podcast “Gaines for Girls” and one of the most influential pro-woman voices in the country, reacted to the new policy with a post on X. 

Others reacted, as well. 

This is a big step in the right direction, but there is a lot of work left to do to protect women’s sports from the invasion of biological males.