PROFILE
Top LPGA teacher Tina Tombs makes learning ‘fun’
BY BILL HUFFMAN ~ PHOTOS BY WADE MORAN
f Tina Tombs had a theme song, it would be “Girls Just Want to Have Fun.” Or maybe “Fun, Fun, Fun.”
Tombs, who has taught
golf and served as the director of instruction at the Arizona Biltmore for the past decade, was honored recently as the LPGA’s National Teacher of the Year. The prestigious award, which was established in 1958, is given annually to the female golf professional who has most exemplified her profession. “I feel very fortunate to
have my name added to that distinguished list,” said the former Arizona State and LPGA standout from Phoenix. “I must admit, I was surprised when I got the call and they told me I’d been named the top LPGA teacher out of the hundreds of women who teach for a living. “In fact, I was in tears
for a few minutes, and then I started jumping up and down and screaming. I still can’t believe it was me that won this award.” Ask her many students
— male or female, as well as Tour players to juniors — about the effervescent Tombs and they’re not surprised one bit. Or ask her former instructor, Mike Adams, and he’ll tell you why Tombs is so good at
what she does for a living. “I’ve known Tina for
over 20 years, and I taught her during that period when she played on Tour,” said Adams, a top-100 instructor on everybody’s list, including Golf Digest, which rated him No. 9. “All I can say is, Tina is the best. “First of all, anything Tina
puts her mind to, she will succeed at. She just works and works and works, and always gives 100 percent. And she never stops because her goal is always to get better. “Second, Tina has always
been a phenomenal student of the game. She always brings that passion and love into it. I mean, look at how successful she was as a single mom. Plus, she likes to have fun while she’s doing it, and she’s always such a positive person.” It’s a teaching philosophy
that Tombs has slowly woven together while working with other noted instructors like Peter Kostis, Mike McGetrick, David Leadbetter, Debbie Cruise and Bob Rotella. “I’ve gained a lot from
working with the best, but my philosophy is really based on the student, each and every one of them,” said the 52-year- old Tombs. “I enjoy them and try to incorporate their goals into what I’m teaching them.
26 | AZ GOLF Insider | ANNUAL 2014
Tina Tombs is a former Arizona State and LPGA standout who lives in Phoenix. “I try to do what they’re
capable of doing based on what their bodies will allow them to do. It’s as simple as that. And I want to make the game fun for them, and fun for me while I’m teaching them. Golf can be a tough game, so you have to keep it fun.” Born in Canada,
Tombs grew up in New Hampshire where she was an outstanding . . . swimmer? “Yeah, and then I broke
my collarbone when I was 13 and that kind of ended that,” she said of her aquatic career. “But my dad loved golf, and so I caddied for him a time or two and realized, because I am so competitive, ‘Hey, I love this game.’”
Tombs said she never
played much junior golf after getting off to a late start. But she did keep working hard on her game. “Finally, I won the
New Hampshire Junior Championship (in 1979), and I got a few (scholarship) offers from places like Arizona State and San Jose and New Mexico.” And, well, I really liked the weather in Tempe.” Tombs was recruited by
former ASU coach Jocelyne Bourassa, another Canadian and still a close friend of Tombs. But Tombs never played a day for Bourassa, as a new coach named Linda Vollstedt took over the ASU program in 1980. “Jocelyne actually moved
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