After falling short at NJCAA championship, Roanne Tomlinson wins Florida amateur

The hunt for the 2017 National Junior College Athletic Association Women’s Golf Championship was a two-team race pitting the two best teams in Florida against each other in Braselton, Ga., figuratively miles ahead of their competition.

Ultimately, Daytona State College’s depth let the Daytona Beach junior college hoist the national championship trophy. For four days, though, Roanne Tomlinson kept Seminole State College of Florida within striking distance. The Lake Mary golfer finished in a three-way tie for third place, but there was no trophy to raise at the end of the four days in May.

Less than two months after playing her final round for the Seminole junior college, Tomlinson can call herself the best amateur in all of Florida. The recent Seminole State College graduate won the Florida State Golf Association Women’s Amateur Stroke Play Championship on Sunday, edging Miami Beach’s Jamie Freedman by one stroke at Sara Bay Country Club in Sarasota.

“I’m kind of a long hitter, I guess. This course was fairly short for me, it was just the greens were tricky,” Tomlinson said. “I hit quite a lot of greens, so if you hit greens you’re making putts.”

She outlasted two rain delays to put together the most consistent three rounds of the tournament: back-to-back 74s in the first two rounds and a closing 73 on Sunday. Winning in Sarasota blended the two styles of golf she grew up playing and the cohesive skill set that will allow her to play at Kennesaw State next year.

Born in England, Tomlinson’s earliest days of playing were filled with links golf, battling the wind and rain of her home as well as the hilly courses. At age 7, Tomlinson moved to the United States, where she developed her length, firing long drives down the wide-open Florida fairways.

“I prefer the golf over here,” Tomlinson said, her British accent only evident on some of the long vowels she pronounces. “Big fairways, big greens.”

At age 12, Tomlinson went back to England for five years, which is how she wound up bouncing around junior colleges the past two years rather than heading straight to a Division I program. It was hard to get all of her grades to transfer from her foreign high schools, so she settled on McLennan Community College in Waco, Texas, for her freshman year.

It was evident quickly that she had the ability to play beyond the two-year restrictions of junior college. She tied for second at the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Women’s Golf Championship during that first season, but even then her individual effort couldn’t get her past Daytona. The Falcons won their first of back-to-back NJCAA titles.

But going against the best amateurs in the state, including three from Daytona, Tomlinson showcased her full arsenal to become the top amateur in the state.

“The important years, I guess — 12-17 — I was playing over in England, so I think it helped a lot with the playing in rain and wind,” Tomlinson said. “I think that helps.”

This story was originally published July 9, 2017 at 5:30 PM with the headline "After falling short at NJCAA championship, Roanne Tomlinson wins Florida amateur."