Hailey Davidson, a transgender golfer, emerged victorious at the recent NXXT Women’s Classic in Florida. Her win placed her in a good position to become a member of the Epson Tour, the official LPGA qualifying tournament.
The victory propelled Davidson to the top of the NXXT standings, with a score of 1320 and a 150-point lead over second place. Davidson, who hails from Scotland and now lives in Florida, shot a one-over-73 and finished the three-round tournament at +4.
Davidson was three shots behind with only two holes to play. She tied the leader on the 18th hole, forcing a playoff. The victory was Davidson’s second top-two finish in five events since November, with two more finishes of seventh and ninth. She was awarded $1,576.51 and 500 league points, bringing her season earnings to $4,206.84 and her career total to $5,801.89 over eight events.
NXXT Golf is a professional women’s golf tour dedicated to preparing “the world’s best young women professional golfers for a successful career on the LPGA Tour.” The Epson Tour, which is the official LPGA qualifying tour, has produced more than 600 players who have gone on to play in the most significant and prestigious women’s golf organization in the world.
Davidson’s hopes of obtaining one of ten exemptions to the Epson Tour increased after her win. To be eligible, she had to seek approval from the LPGA as part of her transition from male to female. Davidson reportedly discussed this starting in 2016 but was not allowed to compete until 2021. By that time, she had undergone hormone replacement therapy for five years and eight months and had undergone full gender reassignment surgery.
Davidson claims to have lost 15 mph of “club head speed,” which is the speed at which a golf club impacts the ball. The average club head speed of a PGA Tour golfer is 114.2 mph, while the average driver swing speed on the LPGA Tour is approximately 94 mph, according to analytics company GraffGolf.