golfrewind.com

Transsexual aiming to be one of the girls
By Claire Middleton
(Filed: 28/10/2004)



Mianne Bagger today begins her attempt to become the first transsexual golfer to win playing privileges on the Robe di Kappa women's European Tour.



Bagger, who started life as a man but had a sex-change operation, is teeing up alongside 133 other women in an effort to claim one of 30 Tour cards up for grabs.

She is able to compete because the European Tour changed the rule that stated their members had to be "female at birth". The Tour were acting in line with a recent International Olympic Committee policy which allows transsexuals to compete at the Games.

Bagger, 37, has played much of last season on the Telia Tour in Scandinavia, where they have no female-at-birth stipulation. She starts her campaign today near Bari, Italy, with her initial aim being to get through the first stage of the qualifying school. Should she make the final 90, she will tackle four more rounds, starting on Sunday, with the top 30 finishers earning full playing rights for next season.

Having caused a major stir when she was given an invitation to play in Australia last year, Bagger's subsequent performances in Sweden suggested she is capable of earning a card.

"It was great to finish second in the final event of the season," she said. "I feel good about my swing and as confident going into Q-school as it is possible to be. It will be a new experience, but then everything over the last few months has been new.

"I have not received any adverse reaction to my being able to play but I realise there are still some people who may not agree with the decision to let me compete. I'd like to think that some opinions might change now."

British players also in action today are Fame More and Scotland's Lyn Kenny.

Source

So Bagger made the cut..to make a cut?

Seems like an extreme way to become a professional golfer. I'm guessing the surgury was done for other reasons though.

Man, imagine if Tiger went under the knife! He's win all the LPGA events.

Tiger.....Ha! Any male All-Conference collegiate player would clean house on the LPGA Tour!

lol - methinks that comment may well start a little argument!

be prepared league!

Oh boy, now, now gentlemen, at least wait until I call time!
You want to know something? I think she deserves to get so beat up on the tour it isn't even funny. No wait, what am I saying? She, is a he, who just wants to look like a she. But we all know that he isn't a real she, but a he nonetheless. Furthermore, because this perverted he wants to be a she, she (who is really a he) has a much better chance at winning! Anyone confused yet? Anyone else feel that these type of people deserve to be isolated, and that if they want to change, well then they can form their own tour? I can see it now. The TPGA: the Transexually Perverted Golf Association.

What you're all forgetting is that she/he 'll have to take female hormones. So any advantage of strength will be offset by suddenly discovering on the first tee that they have a craving for chocolate/anxiety about whether bum looks big in golf shorts/impulse to go shopping for shoes
which I'm sure will prove excessively distracting.
Most of us women factor these things into our swing already, but we've been coping with it for years. I'm not so confident that the transformers will cope.

I can't even begin to imagine what would cause someone to change their gender - but hey its their choice.

But it seems to me that taking advantage of this in a competitive sport just isn't right for everyone else competing.

I remember the tennis player years ago - Renee Richards? Same thing - he/she attempted a go at professional Women's Tennis. I don't think it was successful.

I hope this foray into womens' golf turns out the same way, and quietly goes away.

Just my opinion.

and how do the ladies feel about her/him changing in the clubhouse?

Probably no different than male athletes feel with women reporters in their locker rooms.

I've been having a great time reading this thread. It's becoming quite obvious to me that a lot of the institutions in our world are ill-equipped to handle the influx of people with "alternative" gender and/or sexual preferences, issues, etc. We've seen it with the state governments, sports governing bodies, religious institutions, and a myriad of others. I'm anxious to see how this progresses, because I don't see an end to it anytime soon.

I hope that was PC enough and that I didn't let on to any of my personal views.....

Don't worry about personal views, everyone has em, some just more obvious than others.

Hmmm.

Does that mean that some people's views are more obvious because of their views on other topics? Or does it mean that some people's views are more obvious because they clearly state them, while others conceal them?

For instance, if I wear a Notre Dame baseball cap, are my views on birth control more or less obvious? If I walk around with a condom pinned to my lapel, are my views on birth control more or less obvious? If I wear a Bush-Cheney cap and a Kerry-Edwards tee shirt, are my views on anything obvious or is everything obscured?

Well, if you walked around in that sort of gear, the only logical deduction would be that you supported Nader!

People's views are obvious only to those know how to interpret the signs of them correctly. For instance, one of my best friends and I think so much alike, many times we know what the other is going to say before they say it. I know what he is thinking just by him saying a small bit. That is interpretation. However, if I did not know anything about my friend (let's assume he is a stranger), then I could never interpret him like that.

Furthermore, some people are merely unable to correctly conceal their views from others. They don't understand how to approach a subject without letting their views show. I'm one who goes both ways. On some issues (such as this one) there is no mistaking what my views are. On other issues (and League can testify to this) I don't take a clear stand on either side, and I conceal the way I really feel very well.

Hope that didn't get too deep!

Now, for the subject of ladies in the men's locker rooms.
Does anyone else feel that that is totally wrong? I'm almost positive that the women would be quite upset if there were male reporters in their locker rooms. It would be called sexual harrassment! Anyone else feel the same way?

Interesting comment...given the thread title. As for men in women's locker rooms, I don't believe men have the same access as women. I know that women have had access to areas where men are undressed, but I believe when the "towel is on the other cheek (so to speak) there is always a separate room set up for handling interviews. Does anyone have info to the contrary?