WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, IW Features, the storytelling platform of Independent Women’s Forum (IWF), announced the release of Cristiana Ciasca’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. Ciasca’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 qualify, compete, and win in women’s golf — 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. Cristiana Ciasca 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.
Ciasca 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:
“Women are capable of so many amazing things: that we’re able to compete at a high level and train our bodies to be so capable of so many different things and perform at the highest level. However, allowing male golfers to compete in women’s events erases these years of training, sacrifice, and hard work due to male biological advantages.”
WATCH Cristiana Ciasca’s “TEE TIME” STORY HERE.
“I’ve made a lot of sacrifices or choices to pursue this career…missing out on some family vacations or some friends nights, or being able to do the things that normal 24-year-old girls normally would be doing,” said Ciasca. “While the sacrifices are hard, there [are] rewards on the other side.”
In addition to Cristiana Ciasca’s documentary, IW Features has released four other 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.
- Olivia Schmidt, a professional golfer who wants to help the next generation of female athletes, 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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