Actually kind of looks more feminine than Annika Sorenstam:
3-3-2004 Transsexual to Compete in Australian Open
SYDNEY, Australia - Mianne Bagger brings a new twist to gender blending in golf. After a year in which seven women competed in men's tournaments, Bagger will make history this week at the Women's Australian Open as the first transsexual to play in a pro golf tournament.
Bagger was born a male in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 1966 and began playing golf as an 8-year-old.
Golf World magazine ran a photo of Bagger as a 14-year-old boy posing with Greg Norman at a golf clinic.
Bagger got down to a 4-handicap but stopped playing golf in 1992 to begin a transformation to a female with hormone therapy. Bagger had the sex-change operation three years later, then resumed playing in 1998.
For those concerned she has a physical advantage over the other women in the field ? which includes Karrie Webb, Laura Davies and Rachel Teske ? Bagger says they are misinformed.
After Bagger resumed playing golf in 1998, she won the South Australian State Championship for amateurs in 1999, 2001 and 2002, and turned pro last summer by joining the Danish PGA.
Bagger says she is not a power player, and only hits the ball about 240 yards off the tee.
All she wants this week is a chance.
"I want to play professional golf and have the same opportunities as other women," she said.
3-3-2004 Transsexual to Compete in Australian Open
SYDNEY, Australia - Mianne Bagger brings a new twist to gender blending in golf. After a year in which seven women competed in men's tournaments, Bagger will make history this week at the Women's Australian Open as the first transsexual to play in a pro golf tournament.
Bagger was born a male in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 1966 and began playing golf as an 8-year-old.
Golf World magazine ran a photo of Bagger as a 14-year-old boy posing with Greg Norman at a golf clinic.
Bagger got down to a 4-handicap but stopped playing golf in 1992 to begin a transformation to a female with hormone therapy. Bagger had the sex-change operation three years later, then resumed playing in 1998.
For those concerned she has a physical advantage over the other women in the field ? which includes Karrie Webb, Laura Davies and Rachel Teske ? Bagger says they are misinformed.
After Bagger resumed playing golf in 1998, she won the South Australian State Championship for amateurs in 1999, 2001 and 2002, and turned pro last summer by joining the Danish PGA.
Bagger says she is not a power player, and only hits the ball about 240 yards off the tee.
All she wants this week is a chance.
"I want to play professional golf and have the same opportunities as other women," she said.
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