SYDNEY, Australia (AP) — Mianne Bagger has made history this week at the Women’s Australian Open as the first transsexual to play in a pro golf tournament.
“It’s my dream to play top-level golf,” she said earlier. Bagger was born a male in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 1966 and began playing golf as an eight-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 four-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.