Transgender players will face tougher restrictions to enter women’s professional and elite golf tournaments after the R&A introduced a new competition policy Thursday.
The protocols, which the R&A said were developed following extensive consultation with medical and scientific experts, mean players 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 available medical and scientific advice relating to participation in elite and scratch level golf competitions by transgender athletes and decided that updating our entry conditions to preserve fairness in our female professional and elite amateur championships is the right thing to do,” R&A CEO Martin Slumbers said in a statement. “While we believe that golf should be open to all and are committed to developing the sport, we recognise that we have a duty to ensure that in our elite competitions players can compete fairly and equally.”
The new policy will commence at the start of 2025 but will not apply at a recreational level where the World Handicap System enables golfers to play and compete regardless of age, ability, background or gender.
The Lawn Tennis Association announced on Wednesday similar rules for the female category of many tennis tournaments in Britain. The policies do not apply to tournaments such as Wimbledon or ATP and WTA events held in Britain because the LTA is not in charge of those competitions.
Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
