Women's pro golf tour, NXXT, defends its decision to ban transgender players, insisting it changed its gender policy to protect 'competitive fairness' - after trans golfer branded it a 'slap in the face to ALL female athletes'

Women's professional golf tour, NXXT Golf, has defended its decision to ban transgender athletes from competing after sparking backlash. 

The tour changed its eligibility criteria to only allow biological female players to compete on Friday after transgender golfer Hailey Davidson won on the circuit in January. 

The 30-year-old had hit back at the move, branding it a 'slap in the face' on Instagram earlier this week but CEO Stuart McKinnon responded to the backlash, claiming the organization had made an educated decision. 

'We didn't make this decision lightly. We knew it was a polarizing topic and would evoke a lot of emotions from people out there,' McKinnon told Fox's Will Cain on Sunday. 

'We took a lot of time in educating ourselves, spoke to many stakeholders in the golfing community and the sporting community at large from coaches and players and doctors and scientists, and educated ourselves.'

NXXT Golf CEO Stuart McKinnon defended the decision to ban transgender athletes

Transgender golfer Hailey Davidson will no longer be allowed to compete on NXXT Golf tour 

The women's professional golf tour changed its eligibility criteria to only allow biological female players to compete after Davidson's win in January sparked backlash 

'It really came down to one principle, and that was about competitive fairness,' he continued. 'We felt that the biological male had a physiological advantage against the woman on the tour, and we made the decision to change.' 

Davidson, who was born in Scotland but now lives in Florida, won the NXXT Women's Classic at Mission Inn Resort and Club near Orlando in January. 

The victory allowed the Scot to take a step closer to the LPGA with the NXXT awarding its top five players with exemptions to the Epson Tour - a step below the top tier of the women's game. 

News of the win sparked anger online, with many highlighting how Davidson, a three-time winner on the tour, would likely be able to hit the ball further than a player born female.

The NXXT had initially stuck to its policy of allowing trans-women to take part in the competition alongside those who were born female, only to perform a U-turn on Friday. 

The tour announced on International Women's Day that it had reversed its gender policy and that, effective immediately, competitors must be a biological female at birth to participate.

'I'm a father of five daughters,' McKinnon said. 'Growing up in the sports, there was categories… and some is based on sex, and so this is really about protecting that category. In addition, we listened to the players on the tour. We conducted an anonymous player pool and overwhelming feedback came back that they wanted us to change our gender policy guidelines.' 

'When Hailey Davidson did win, what it did was it brought out more feedback from our players on tour, telling us that they would not play anymore and telling us that other players that they knew of weren't playing on the tour because of our gender policy guidelines,' he continued. 

McKinnon told Fox's Will Cain that the organization had made an educated decision 

The Epson Tour is the qualifying tour for the LPGA, the Tour Card for which Davidson has been aiming. The LPGA Tour removed their requirement for golfers to be 'female at birth' in 2010

Despite the fall out, McKinnon maintained that it was not a decision the organization took lightly and was not a knee-jerk reaction to the response to Davidson's win. 

'I can guarantee this was not a knee-jerk reaction to any outside forces,' McKinnon said. 'I just bought this tour a year ago, and Davidson provided us with a letter of eligibility from the LPGA and from the USGA, and it took some time to educate myself… on the process that they followed and took some time for myself to learn about this.' 

Davidson took to Instagram in the aftermath of the tour's decision this week, writing: 'You know what really bugs me is that people think I win just by showing up.

'This is such a slap in the face to ALL female athletes being told that any male can transition and beat them regardless of the life of hard work those women put in… You think your (sic) attacking me but your actually attacking and putting doen [sic] ALL other female athletes.' 

A statement from the tour said that the decision had been made in an effort to underscore the organization's 'commitment to maintaining the integrity of women's professional golf and ensuring fair competition.'

'As we navigate through the evolving landscape of sports, it is crucial to uphold the competitive integrity that is the cornerstone of women's sports,' McKinnon said in a statement Friday. 

'Our revised policy is a reflection of our unwavering commitment to celebrating and protecting the achievements and opportunities of female athletes. Protected categories are a fundamental aspect of sports at all levels, and it is essential for our Tour to uphold these categories for biological females, ensuring a level playing field.' 

'NXXT Golf is honored to lead in promoting and advancing women's golf, providing a platform that not only highlights the exceptional talent of women golfers worldwide but also ensures the competition remains equitable for all of our players,' he added. 

The news broke during an off-week on the NXXT's schedule with the next tournament, the Dare the Bear Championship, taking place next week from March 11-13. Davidson is not listed in the field. 

She last competed on the NXXT at the Royal St. Cloud Women's Championship last week, where she finished tied-24 with a score of ten-over for the tournament. 

After one win and two second-place finishes through nine events this year, Davidson currently sits second in the Road to the Epson Tour standings. 

Davidson currently sits second in the Road to the Epson Tour standings - 99 behind leader Maria Bohorquez and a massive 500 ahead of Ji Eun Baik in third

Her finishes this year have earned her a total of 1,801 points - 99 behind leader Maria Bohorquez and a massive 500 ahead of Ji Eun Baik in third.

If she had been permitted to continue playing on the NXXT and maintained her position, she would have clinched an exemption to the Epson Tour, the developmental feeder tour for the LPGA.

The top five earners on the NXXT points list will earn two exemptions into Epson Tour fields. 

The NXXT is the second US mini-tour to make the change after Arizona-based Cactus Tour announced on National Girls and Women in Sports Day last month that it had reinstated a female-at-birth requirement. 

The LPGA's gender policy, which also applies to the Epson Tour, Ladies European Tour, LET Access Series and LPGA Professionals competitions, still permits trans-women to compete. 

The LPGA Tour, which removed its requirement for golfers to be 'female at birth' in 2010, requires players to submit a written declaration stating that they identify as female, proof of gender reassignment surgery, and evidence of at least one year of hormonal therapy maintaining testosterone levels at a specified range. 

In response to the backlash towards Davidson's win, the NXXT declared in January that it would be requesting her to undergo 'additional testing', despite her insistence that she no longer has any physiological advantages over her cisgender competitors.

At the time, Davidson had openly accepted the new regulations, while still maintaining that she possessed no edge over her biological female rivals after almost a decade of taking hormones.

The LPGA's gender policy still permits trans-women to compete (Pictured: commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan) 

'I win and people freak out. I play well and the whole world ends and 'Oh, I'm destroying women's golf now!' and all this other stuff,' she told Sky Sports.

'I recognize that I did have an unfair advantage a few years ago. I've been transitioning now for nine years, I've been on hormones for almost nine years. I had surgery coming up on three years exactly. I've lost almost 50mph on swing speed.'

She added: 'Trans athletes shouldn't be banned, but at the same time, there needs to be regulations in place because it shouldn't just be a free for all.

'I think with so many topics, we as a society just need to sit down and listen to each other rather than scream at each other and put hatred on it. 

'I think we forget that people are actually humans at the same time.'

The NXXT also rolled out an anonymous poll among its players to gather their opinions on the tour's gender policy, the results of which had not been made public. 

Davidson last competed as a male golfer in 2015, after which, she began hormone therapy treatments and underwent gender reassignment surgery in 2021. 

'I know I have what it takes from being around professional golfers on the LPGA/PGA/Champions Tour over the recent years and staying very competitive with them all,' Davidson said in 2021 while trying to fundraise for qualifying school.

Davidson last competed as a male golfer in 2015, after which, she began hormone therapy treatments. She has been competing on the East Coast Women's Pro Golf Tour

Davidson is seen in 2015, prior to transitioning

Davidson is seen recovering in hospital following her transition to become a woman

'While I know that I have the talent and mental game to make a career out of playing, the initial cost of tournaments and practice expenses is what truly holds me back.' 

While failing to make qualifiers that particular year, Davidson stayed competitive in other tournaments, ending one match just three shots behind 2010 US Women's Open champ Paula Creamer. 

Should Davidson finally make the LPGA, she would be the second transgender woman reach the first stage of LPGA Q-School. 

In 2013, Bobbi Lancaster, a 63-year-old physician from Arizona earned Symetra Tour status in 2013, but decided to spend her time traveling the country as a human rights advocate according to Golf Week.

The NXXT's about-face comes amid a culture war in America over regulations in allowing transgender athletes to compete in women's sports.

Although professional bodies like the LPGA and PGA set up their own rules and regulations many years ago, more recently debates have erupted across the country over athletes competing in high school and college.

The issue took center stage in 2022 with UPenn swimmer Lia Thomas, who began competing in women's collegiate swimming a year and a half after transitioning.

Thomas went on to break several women's records, much to the dismay of several of her teammates, and the NCAA and US Swimming bodies were criticized for allowing Thomas to compete.

Davidson said that after her transition, she now hits the ball 15 mph slower, adding that she doesn't have much of an advantage against other female golfers

Davidson claims that the majority of criticism about her competing in the women's circuit is transphobic rather than a real dialogue over the sport

The issue took center stage in 2022 with UPenn swimmer Lia Thomas, pictured, who began competing in women's collegiate swimming a 18 months after transitioning setting records

Professional competitive swimming association FINA has since effectively banned trans women from competing in the sport, by saying they must have begun to transition before puberty kicked in, which is illegal or almost impossible to do across most of the US.

18 states have now outlawed transgender students from competing in girls' sports. 

One notable example is Ohio, which passed a bill requiring students accused of being transgender to provide a doctor's note detailing their sexual anatomy, their testosterone levels, and their genetic makeup.

In New Jersey, Republican lawmakers proposed the Fairness in Women's Sports Act, which would require female student-athletes to verify the nature of their genitals to compete.

The bill's sponsor, Sen. Michael Testa, compared genitalia checks to random drug tests that college athletes are subject to, and said he didn't foresee any problems with irate parents accusing girls of being transgender.