WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, IW Features, the storytelling platform of Independent Women’s Forum (IWF), announced the release of Olivia Schmidt’s female athlete story, highlighting her journey as a professional golfer competing for a highly coveted spot on the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) Tour. Schmidt’s story is the latest in IW Features’ documentary series: “Tee Time: Keep Women’s Golf Female,” which features stories from female golfers who have been forced to share the course with and compete against male golfers in the women’s division.
In 2010, the LPGA changed its participation policy to allow trans-identified male golfers to participate in the women’s division — an effort the LPGA states will “assure fair competition for all members and participants.” According to the policy, men who self-identify as women and have undergone at least one year of hormone therapy and a gonadectomy — a surgical procedure to remove the male testes — are cleared by the LPGA in tournaments and eligible for membership open only to female athletes.
As a result, trans-identifying males are able to seek membership in LPGA Tour; Epson Tour, the official qualifying tour of the LPGA Tour; Ladies European Tour (LET); LET Access Series (LETAS), a professional golf tour for women and the official development tour to the Ladies European Tour; and LPGA Professionals.
Female athletes today face the consequences of the LPGA’s unfair and discriminatory policy. Olivia Schmidt and hundreds of other female professional golfers were forced this year to compete against Hailey Davidson, a male golfer who identifies as a woman, for a spot on the LPGA Tour. Davidson advanced to the LPGA’s Qualifying Series this summer and earned Epson Tour status for 2025, which is the main feeder to the LPGA Tour.
Schmidt is one of many women driving an internal movement of professional golfers advocating to keep women’s golf female. She tells IW Features, in part:
“I’m just praying that [the policy] gets changed, and I’m praying that we can find a way to kind of find some common ground in that and hopefully for the next generation of golfers. All I can hope is that I had a part in that and a part in history in this way.”
WATCH Olivia Schmidt’s “TEE TIME” STORY HERE.
Allowing male golfers to compete in women’s events undermines the great sacrifices female athletes make to reach excellence in their sport. “A lot of time and energy goes into this, a lot of practice, a lot of time away from my family that if I just had a normal desk job, I could go and hang out with them every night or time that I could have meeting people and building a family of my own,” said Schmidt. “But I’ve given a lot of that up. That’s probably the biggest sacrifice is just realizing that it’s all going to be for something one day.”
“We need the LPGA to make a change. The bottom line is we can fight this all we want, but the true change comes from the LPGA,” Schmidt said. “They are the only ones with the power to stop it. It’s up to them to protect us.”
Last week, IW Features released the first three stories in its “Tee Time” series:
- Lauren Miller, who gained national attention after losing a first-place title at the 2024 NXXT Women’s Championship to Davidson, shares her story HERE.
- Dana Fall, a professional golfer who has competed on the LPGA and Epson Tour, is hoping to inspire other female golfers to join her in the fight to protect fair competition, sharing what being a golfer and living out her passion means to her HERE.
- Hannah Arnold, an IWF ambassador and professional golfer who wants to do everything she can to ensure that women have the right to compete fairly, shares her story HERE.
The LPGA is not the only organization undermining women’s right to fair competition on the golf course. The United States Golf Association (USGA) and International Golf Federation (IGF) also allow male golfers to compete in women’s events, despite the fact that male golfers have an estimated 30% performance advantage in driving distance compared to female golfers.
Along with the “Tee Time” series, IW last week launched a global letter campaign that equips the public with a form to send personalized letters to the leadership of LPGA, USGA, and IGF to demand the establishment of policies that would guarantee women’s golf is for female athletes only.
VISIT: IWF.ORG/KEEPWOMENSGOLFFEMALE
This campaign follows a series of letters to the LPGA, USGA, and IGF, signed by hundreds of female professional golfers, including Hannah Arnold, Lauren Miller, and Dana Fall, that outline numerous golf-specific findings of male athletic advantage that cannot be mitigated with testosterone suppression. Supporters can join IW’s ambassadors and take action HERE to ask the LPGA, USGA and IGF to reinstate sex-based eligibility requirements.
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