WASHINGTON D.C. — Today, Independent Women’s Forum (IWF) and Independent Women’s Law Center (IWLC) issued a letter calling on officials with the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA), United States Golf Association (USGA), and International Golf Federation (IGF), as the premiere governing bodies which dictate the rules and policies of women’s professional golf, to protect the integrity of women’s golf and ensure that rules reflect single-sex competition.
Current LPGA, USGA, and IGF eligibility policies allow male golfers to qualify, compete, and win in women’s golf events – contradicting scientific studies that have found testosterone suppression cannot eliminate the male athletic advantage. The letter from IWF and IWLC outlines numerous golf-specific findings, including an estimated 30% male performance advantage in driving the ball.
The letter reads in part:
“If women are not to be disadvantaged and ultimately excluded from their own sport and denied opportunities for achievement, biological males must be kept out of women’s golf. Allowing men to compete for the limited slots available to professional female golfers will discourage women and girls from playing and training to excel in the sport. This is the opposite of progress for professional golf and for women’s rights. Expressly recognizing the differences between the sexes will protect women golfers from sex-based discrimination. They deserve single sex sports. This is fundamental to ensuring women golfers have a fair and level playing field.”
Read the full letter HERE
Current female professional golfers are calling for an end to participation policies that erase equal opportunity and the spirit of women’s professional golf in “Tee Time: Keep Women’s Golf Female,” an exclusive docu-series produced by IW Features, the grassroots storytelling and original journalism arm of IWF. The ongoing series highlights first-hand stories of female golfers and their love for the game, including IW Ambassadors Lauren Miller, Hannah Arnold, Dana Fall, and Amy Olson.
In the latest exclusive interview with IW Features, Olson—who made headlines last year for competing in the U.S. Women’s Open while seven months pregnant—explained that she finds it “condescending” for male athletes to claim a level playing field is created by treatments designed to remove their competitive advantage, while female golfers “work tirelessly to maximize their competitive advantage.”
IW has additionally activated a global letter campaign that equips the public with a form to send personalized letters to LPGA, USGA, and IGF leadership to demand the establishment of policies that enforce participation in women’s golf based on sex.
This campaign comes on the heels of letters to the LPGA, USGA, and IGF, signed by hundreds of female professional golfers — including Olson, Miller, Fall, and Arnold — asking officials to acknowledge the male athletic advantage and take a stand in protecting their female golfers.
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Independent Women’s Forum is dedicated to developing and advancing policies that aren’t just well intended, but actually enhance people’s freedom, choices, and opportunities.
Independent Women’s Law Center advocates for equal opportunity, individual liberty, and respect for the American constitutional order.