A story emerged earlier this week where Emily Nash was the low finisher in a boys’ high school event in Massachusetts but was not declared the individual champion because of her gender.
Upon hearing the news, professional players – both men and women, current players and Hall of Famers – expressed their frustration on social media.
#EmilyNash — taking the trophy in opinion on this one…Winning is the prize !!! https://t.co/VQHMAAKAHI
— Sir Nick Faldo (@NickFaldo006) October 27, 2017
Congrats to Emily Nash on her BIG Win!Keep following your dreams and nothing can stop you!!!#GirlPower pic.twitter.com/GIzf65adZ7
— Lexi Thompson (@Lexi) October 27, 2017
This is infuriating. If everyone plays the same tees it doesn’t matter if your a girl or boy. Lowest score wins period https://t.co/hLFJoF1eFI
— Brittany Lincicome (@Brittany1golf) October 26, 2017
High school golfer not awarded first-place trophy — because she's a girl via the @FoxNews App. 2017. Really ? https://t.co/QYML35vtiI
— Curtis Strange (@golf_strange) October 25, 2017
Unacceptable #emilywon https://t.co/lcn93dHSuZ
— Annika Sorenstam (@ANNIKA59) October 26, 2017
There's no rule that I know of that stops low score winning…
That would be a local rule or a made up bullshit rule https://t.co/SVzedZJwfN— Steve Elkington (@elkpga) October 26, 2017
how is this possible!? https://t.co/JQZoEM5S6O
— Marina Alex (@Marina_Deee) October 26, 2017
Emily Nash, if you’re out there, don’t be disheartened and keep handing it to the boyspic.twitter.com/7MBmCh409F
— Eddie Pepperell (@PepperellEddie) October 27, 2017
Emily’s father, Bob, stated on Golf Channel’s Facebook page that his daughter was not made aware of the rules before she teed off and that she played under the same conditions as the boys.
The Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) released a statement on Thursday reaffirming its rule:
The MIAA and its member schools congratulate all golfers on their performance at the recent fall sectional team golf tournament. In particular, the skill of the female golfer from Lunenburg was on display as she represented her personal ability and effort on behalf of the Lunenburg High School Boys Golf Team. The MIAA is proud to have her and her teammates participate and represent the 230,000+ student-athletes in our schools.
The MIAA Golf Committee, with a membership of school representatives from each district in the state, has worked over the years to establish and manage both a boys and girls golf tournament. In the case of golf, these tournaments exist in two different seasons. The boys team and individual tournament has taken place in the fall and the girls team and individual tournament has taken place in the spring. During a sectional tournament round of golf, a golfer’s score is submitted for both an individual and team competition at each location.
To offer an opportunity for team play to all MIAA member school students, female golfers have been welcomed to participate on a boys team in the fall if their school did not sponsor a girls golf team in the spring. Approximately 26 female golfers participated in 2017 fall boys golf tournaments. This opportunity has been met positively by many student-athletes and school programs. Given this team opportunity during the fall tournament season, it has been clear to participants that female golfers playing in the fall boys team tournament are not participating in an individual capacity. The individual tournament opportunity for female golfers takes place during the spring season. As stated in the official MIAA 2017 Fall Golf format, “Girls playing on a fall boys team cannot be entered in the boys fall individual tournament. They can only play in the boys team tournament. If qualified, they can play in the spring Girls Sectional and State Championships.”
We congratulate Lunenburg’s female golfer on her performance and wish her continued success as she participates once again in the MIAA Girls Individual Golf Tournament in the spring of 2018.
Source: Internet
