Transgender players will face tighter restrictions on participating in women’s professional and elite golf tournaments after the R&A introduced a new competition policy on Thursday.
The R&A said the protocols, which were drawn up after extensive consultation with medical and scientific experts, mean athletes must have been female at birth, or transitioned before the onset of male puberty, to be eligible to compete in women’s events.
“We have carefully reviewed the best medical and scientific advice relating to transgender athletes participating in elite and junior golf competitions and have decided that updating our conditions of entry to safeguard fairness in the Women’s Professional and Elite Amateur Championships is the right thing to do,” R&A chief executive officer Martin Slumbers said in a statement. “While we believe golf should be open to all and are committed to growing the game, we recognize our responsibility to ensure players compete fairly and equally in our elite competition.”
The new policy will be implemented in early 2025 but will not apply to recreational levels where the World Handicap System allows golfers to play and compete regardless of age, ability, background or gender.
The Lawn Tennis Association announced similar rules for the women’s division of many tennis championships in the UK on Wednesday. These policies do not apply to tournaments such as Wimbledon or ATP and WTA events held in the UK as the LTA is not responsible for these tournaments.
Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
