Tina Tombs has earned her place in the New Hampshire Golf Hall of Fame as an accomplished player and well-known and decorated golf instructor who continues to give back to the game.
Raised in New Hampshire, Tombs grew up playing the game at Manchester Country Club and was taught by fellow New Hampshire Golf Hall of Fame Inductee, Phil Friel, at Green Meadow Golf Club. She played on the boy’s golf team at West High School in Manchester and went on to earn a full scholarship to play golf at Arizona State University (ASU) where she became a two-time All-American. While in college, he racked up four wins, including a win in the PAC 10 Championship and was selected as one of Golf Digest’s Top 10 Amateur Players.
Her amateur golfing accomplishments include winning the New Hampshire Girls Junior Championship, New Hampshire Women’s Golf Association (NHWGA) Championship, the New England Women’s Golf Association (NEWGA) Championship, and the Women’s Eastern Amateur Championship.
Following her successful college golf career, she began her professional career by qualifying for the Ladies’ Professional Golf Association (LPGA) Tour in 1987. She went on to win and the LPGA Jamie Farr Toledo Classic in 1990 and finished second in the Sara Lee Classic in 1993, losing in a three-hole playoff. She remains one of few LPGA Instructors in the world to have won on the LPGA Tour.
After 14 successful years competing professionally, Tombs moved on to become an instructor, sharing her knowledge and passion for the game to players of all ages and ability levels. In 2002, she founded and is now President of Tina Tombs Golf at the Arizona Biltmore Golf Club in Phoenix, Arizona, where she also holds the title of Director of Instruction.
As an instructor, she has garnered numerous awards as she worked her way into being one of the best teachers in the world, including being named the LPGA National Teacher of the Year in 2014 and 2018. She is one of four other teachers to have been honored with the award twice. Her other awards, to name a few, include being awarded the Arizona Golf Association’s Ed Updegraff Spirit of Golf Award in 2017, Arizona Golf Association’s highest award; 2014 and 2018 LPGA Central Section Teacher of the Year; 2015 Marilynn Smith LPGA Central Section Service Award; LPGA TOP 50 Best Teachers from 2017 to 2018; GRAA Top 50 Teaching Professionals in 2018; and GOLF Magazine Top 100 Teacher since 2019.
She was inducted into New Hampshire’s Queen City Hall of Fame in 1993, the ASU Athletic Hall of Fame in 2006 and the Arizona Golf Hall of Fame in 2020.
Outside of playing and teaching, she continues to give back to the game and donate her time. She recently served at President of the Central Section of the LPGA T&CP and has been on the Executive and Leadership Committees for the T&CP. She has been a guest instructor and presenter at numerous clinics and expos around the country and continues her dedication to the game as one of the busiest golf instructors in the world.
The New Hampshire Golf Hall of Fame Committee is thrilled be inducting Tina Tombs into the New Hampshire Golf Hall of Fame in October.