BROOKSVILLE, FLORIDA — A biological male by the name of Natalie Ryan is dominating women’s disc golf, stirring up anger among actual female players. This past weekend, Ryan won the Women’s series in the Throw Down The Mountain championship, which was played in Brooksville, FL.
But female players and others close to the sport are upset to have a biological male come in and strip real women of their titles, prize money and future opportunities. Tonya Lynds, mother of professional players Jordan and Morgan Lynds, took to Facebook to voice her opinion after Ryan’s win pushed her twin daughters down to second and third place.
According to Lynds’ post, she doesn’t recognize Ryan as the real winner:
“Congratulations Morgan for a FPO (FEMALE PRO OPEN) 1st place win and congratulations Jordan for a FPO (FEMALE PRO OPEN) 2nd place finish!! It’s very difficult to watch this happen. It isn’t about the losing, it’s about losing to a MAN!!” Tonya Lynds wrote.
AFRAID TO SPEAK OUT
Natalie Ryan is not allowed to play on the Pro tour, since the Professional Disc Golf Association (PDGA) has adopted rules that require a player to have started transitioning before age 12 and not exceed a certain amount of blood testosterone. Apparently, Ryan cannot meet those requirements, for which he has filed a lawsuit in California in order to challenge the PDGA’s decision.
However, Ryan is allowed to play in the category just below the pro level – which is called A-Tier. The Florida Standard spoke to one woman on the tour, who wanted to remain anonymous out of fear of losing her sponsorships.
“He has said that he’s going to play all the A-Tier tournaments and that he’s going to ‘beat all the FPO’s asses,’” the female disc golf player claims about Ryan. “Several of the people on the PDGA’s board are ‘woke’ and there’s even a transgender person on the board,” she added.
She also said that most female players agree with her but that they are afraid to speak out due to the political climate.
STARTED ONLY THREE YEARS AGO
An article about transgender disc golf players in sports magazine Outkick states that Natalie Ryan only started playing disc golf about three years ago and that she is already ranked as the number 5 female player in the world.
Ryan has repeatedly slammed the decision of not letting him play on the Pro tour, posting on Instagram that the board’s decision was “never about fairness.”
According to a survey by the PDGA, 67 percent of all members and 80 percent of female members are opposed to having transgender players compete as women.
