By Danny Buchell
Staff Writer
Amanda Gartrell is an alumnus of Florida Southern College and a former record-breaking golfer for the Mocs golf program.
Gartrell originally graduated from FSC in Spring of 2018 with a bachelor’s degree in Psychology.
As of this spring she’s also completed her master’s in Business Administration through the Barney Barnett School of Business.
After golfing for Florida Southern during her time as an undergraduate and partially as a graduate student, Gartrell decided to pursue her dream of being a professional golfer after her final playing season was cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic last May.
Gartrell decided to end her collegiate career despite the fact that the NCAA offered her an extra year of eligibility in response to the pandemic.
Gartrell’s decision to become a professional golfer was made official in June of 2020 when she earned her first professional paycheck from the National Women’s Golf Association.
The NWGA is still the professional tour that Gartrell is actively playing with.
“[Looking back] it’s definitely kind of a shock just to see how fast everything has transpired,” Gartrell said.
The young career of Gartrell recently reached new excitement in March as she notched her first professional tournament victory at Stonegate Golf Club at Solivita.
This excitement then carried over into April where Gartrell won her very next tournament at Eagle Dunes Golf Club.
In the blink of an eye, Gartrell has gone from a new professional on the tour, to a consecutive tournament winner.
And despite this level of success early on in her career, she holds a unique outlook about it all, especially considering that she’s a first-year pro.
Gartrell makes it very clear that she has much bigger goals set for her future in golf.
“I’m going to be honest, it’s cool to have these wins but I don’t really feel any sense of satisfaction,” Gartrell said. “I know that I needed it [the wins] but I still have so many larger goals in the back of my mind.”
Gartrell dreams of someday playing for the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA). In order to pursue that goal of playing on the LPGA tour, Gartrell is aiming to attend the LPGA Q-School this October, which will ideally lead to a qualifying opportunity for Gartrell if she competes well enough.
Overall, Gartrell has true hopes to play golf at the highest level and she’s putting in the daily work and seeking the opportunities to put herself in that position.This motivation she has to be great, she credits to many of the experiences she had playing as a Florida Southern Moc.
“Coming to Florida Southern taught me how to play not just for myself but for others so it kind of taught me to both have no pressure and pressure at the same time,” Gartrell said. “I feel prepared to persevere through anyone’s opinion.”
