Only biological female players are now eligible to compete on the women’s professional golf tour, NXXT Golf, following the reaction against transgender golfer Hailey Davidson for her successes on the circuit.

The NXXT Women’s Classic was won in January at Mission Inn Resort and Club, which is close to Orlando, by Davidson, 30, a Florida resident who was born in Scotland.

With the NXXT giving its top five players exemptions to the Epson Tour, which is a level below the elite division of the women’s game, the triumph allowed the Scot to move one step closer to the LPGA.
Online users were incensed by the victory, with many pointing out that Davidson, a three-time tour winner, would probably be able to hit the ball farther than a player who was born a woman.

After initially upholding its stringent stance and permitting transgender women to compete with naturally born female competitors, the NXXT made a U-turn on Friday. On International Women’s Day, the tour declared that it had changed its gender policy and that competitors had to be born into a female biological family in order to compete.

The decision was taken to emphasize the organization’s “commitment to maintaining the integrity of women’s professional golf and ensuring fair competition,” according to a statement from the tour.