Trans golfer Hailey Davidson wins women’s tournament, increasing chances to LPGA qualifier

A transgender golfer with dreams of making it to the LPGA tour has won a women’s tournament in Florida, which improved her chances of earning herself a spot in a qualifying tour.

Hailey Davidson, 30, came out on top at the NXXT Women’s Classic on Jan. 17 at the Mission Inn Resort and Club, 35 miles northwest of Orlando, after shooting one-over-73 and ending the three-round tournament +4.

Davidson, a Scottish native residing in Florida, won after being 3-shots behind with two holes to go before forcing a playoff following her play on the 18th hole, according to Davidson’s Instagram post celebrating the victory.

NXXT Golf is a professional women’s golf tour focused on “elevating women’s golf.”

“The Tour’s mission is to prepare the world’s best young women professional golfers for a successful career on the LPGA Tour,” according to the Epson Tour’s website.

The win propelled Davidson to the top of the NXXT tour’s leaderboard where she boasts a total score of 1320, a whopping 150 points ahead of the woman in second place.

Out of the five tournaments held in the league since November, Davidson has placed in the top-2, twice, along with a 7 and 9 place finish.

Along with a trophy and the 500 league points given to the winner, Davidson was awarded $1,576.51, increasing her season total to $4,206.84, with a current career total of $5,801.89 over 8 events.

At the end of the tour’s schedule, 10 exemptions will be awarded to the top five points leaders to participate in the Epson Tour.

The league is the official LPGA qualifying tour and has produced over 600 members who have gone on to play in the largest and most prestigious female golf organization in the world.

Five events have already been completed in the tour’s schedule, with eight more to go, all ending with the NXXT Tour Championship in Ocala, FL. from March 25 to 27.

If Davidson were to be awarded two of the ten exemptions to the Epson Tour, she had to earn approval from the LPGA while she was transitioning from male to female.

She allegedly began talking with the tour in 2016 but wasn’t deemed eligible to compete until 2021, when, at that time, she had been on Hormone Replacement Therapy for 5 years and 8 months.

She also had full gender reassignment surgery by that time, according to a post on social media dated Oct. 2022.

Davidson also claims she lost 15 mph of “club head speed” as a result of her transition.

The average PGA Tour golfer’s club head speed is 114.2 mph while the average driver swing speed on the LPGA Tour is approximately 94 mph, according to analytics company GraffGolf.

Davidson made history prior to joining NXXT Golf, as she became the “World’s first transgender person to win a professional golf tournament,” a record she boasts about in her Instagram bio.

Her goal of making the LPGA has been defended by Caitlyn Jenner, with the Olympic gold medalist supporting the transgender golfer to compete in the tour.

“I’ve been very consistent with how I’ve tried to approach these transgender athletes. It really depends on the sport. Every sport is different,” Jenner said in August 2022.