In 2025, the USGA and LPGA rewrote the rules of who could compete in elite women’s golf. The policy was framed as protecting competitive integrity. But now transgender golfer Hailey Davidson, who had competed under the previous rules just a year earlier, is contesting where that line was drawn.

On March 19, Hailey Davidson filed a lawsuit in New Jersey against the USGA, the LPGA, Hackensack Golf Club, and three LPGA officials after being denied entry into a U.S. Women’s Open qualifier. She is seeking unspecified damages. The current policy bars anyone who was born male and transitioned after puberty from competing in elite women’s events.

Hailey Davidson began hormone treatments in 2015, after undergoing puberty as a male. Later, the American pro underwent gender-affirming surgery in 2021, steps required under the LPGA’s previous policy. She argues the new rule is a de facto blanket ban, as many U.S. states legally prohibit minors from accessing puberty blockers or hormone treatments, making pre-puberty transition medically impossible for most.

The LPGA said it was aware of the lawsuit and would “let that process play out on the proper forum.” “The LPGA’s gender policy was developed through a thoughtful, expert-informed process and is grounded in protecting the competitive integrity of elite women’s golf,” it added.

Davidson also claimed Hackensack Golf Club violated the law by deferring all eligibility decisions to the USGA. She had competed in a U.S. Open qualifier and LPGA Q-School under the previous policy in 2024, falling short in both, before the rules changed entirely.

Hailey Davidson has faced similar policy shifts before. She won on a Florida mini-tour two years ago before that circuit restricted participation to players assigned female at birth. In December, she filed a lawsuit against women’s tour NXXT after it introduced an identical restriction. NXXT filed a motion to dismiss in February. She also faced fan vitriol and death threats from people who disregarded her victories.

However, golf is just part of a wider pattern.

World Athletics banned transgender women who went through male puberty from elite female competition in 2023. World Aquatics limited eligibility to those who transitioned before age 12. World Cycling implemented similar restrictions in the same year. FIFA, the governing body for soccer, has not issued a universal ban; it is still reviewing cases individually. The legal challenge in golf is the latest test of where that line gets drawn.

This debate in golf did not begin with Hailey Davidson. It traces back more than two decades, to a tournament in Australia that changed the sport forever.

The precedent that started it all

On March 4, 2004, Danish golfer Mianne Bagger became the first transgender athlete to compete in a professional golf tournament, teeing off at the Women’s Australian Open. She shot 12 over par that day. The scorecard was secondary. The precedent she set was not.

Bagger, assigned male at birth in 1966, had gender-affirming surgery in 1995 and returned to golf at 32. She had stopped playing entirely as a teenager, struggling with her identity. Two decades later, she was competing on the Ladies European Tour after qualifying via the Q-School.

Speaking after earning her card, Bagger said, “I sold up everything that I owned in Australia to fund this year, and I have nothing but friends and family, but now I feel rich.”

It was made possible because of a policy change that year. LET removed the “female at birth” criteria, which allowed Bagger to compete and earn her way to the top. Her participation directly influenced golf’s governing bodies.

The LPGA, among other associations, amended its bylaws to remove “female at birth” requirements following Bagger’s advocacy. The very policy Davidson competed under in 2024 was shaped, in part, by what Bagger pushed for two decades earlier.

The rules that once made room for Mianne Bagger have now been reversed. The USGA and LPGA’s 2025 policy effectively undoes that framework. Hailey Davidson’s lawsuit is, in many ways, a direct consequence of that policy. The other governing bodies have yet to comment on the matter. So it remains to be seen what the court verdict says and whether it will force golf’s governing bodies to change or modify the rule yet again.