CPC Notebook: Griffing gets a leg up at Titleist's new learning facility

By Bob Denney and John L. Byrwa

NASHPORT, Ohio (PGA.com) -- Quinn Griffing has always been a solid player, winning a few PGA Section tournaments and even posting a 59 once in a casual round.

But Griffing, the head professional at Sycamore Golf Course in North Manchester, Ind., said his game has improved dramatically since he visited the new high-tech Titleist Performance Institute in Oceanside, Calif.

"One of the benefits (of being a Titleist staff professional) is we get to go to their new TPI, the Titleist Performance Institute, and they're so far ahead of everyone else in the industry it's just a joke," said Griffing. "With biomechanics, and what you should be eating and your conditioning, flexibility, and they have a state-of-the-art practice facility.

"People might think I'm biased because I'm Titleist. But I'm telling you flat out, if you laid them all out on the table, there's no comparison. Titleist is far ahead of the game with equipment and balls and where they're taking their players."

At the TPI, a state-of-the-art facility that uses the latest technology to provide a "total picture" of a player's body, swing, and equipment, Griffing said he was able to dial in his swing like never before.

Apparently, it's worked, as he was tied for fifth on 5-under-par after two rounds of the 37th PGA Club Professional Championship at Longaberger Golf Club.

"It showed a sequence of how my swing should come together," Griffing said of the technology. "For me, it's more a sequence of how I get back to the ball. They really illustrated that in the biomechanics, which has made a big difference in the consistency of my shots."

CADDIE FOR LIFE: Chris Thompson, assistant athletic director at Sam Houston State University, is a former tennis coach and someone who keeps in shape with daily three-mile runs.

She also has caddied for 21 years for her husband, Robert, the teaching professional at Whispering Pines Golf Club in Trinity, Texas. Robert is making his eighth appearance in the CPC, and owns a career-best finish of a tie for ninth in 1998.

"She's a good caddie; she's a plus to have," said Thompson. "She knows what she's doing and she's very good on the bag. Twenty-one years? Yes, that is pretty amazing. She comes from a competitive background and she knows what is going on around here. She can run circles around me."

AN ULTERIOR MOTIVE: Sure, Mike Small would love to win the CPC and garner all the accolades and perks that come with it. But he has another, perhaps even bigger, reason for playing well here.

As the head golf coach at the University of Illinois, Small hopes his performance here -- he was the first-round leader and was in fourth place after two rounds -- helps persuade some of the better recruits to consider becoming an Illini.

"That's the main reason of why I'm still playing," Small said. "I play because it's fun to compete, and I play for a chance to win some extra money. But if I play bad, it costs me money. But I'm a coach first and a player second, and anything that can help our team is great.

"Hopefully it will give our program some credibility. I mean, you never know -- people look at things differently -- but I would hope so. The exposure is good, the credibility is good, especially for a Midwestern school. I mean, we've had good teams two of the last three years-- we made the NCAA Championship two of the last three years -- and we're building awesome facilities, so all that coupled together should be good for our program, I would think."

FINE AT NINE: The ninth hole at Longaberger Golf Club is a devilish par-3 over water measuring 187 yards into an unpredictable wind. But, 1990 PGA Club Professional Champion Brett Upper nearly aced it Friday with a brilliant 6-iron shot that landed a foot short of the hole and stopped just inches shy of going in.

"I came up a little short," chuckled Upper, the director of golf at Arizona Country Club in Phoenix. "I think I made a mistake telling it to get down."

Alas, the birdie did little to help Upper's cause -- he finished with a 74 for a 7-over total to miss the cut by four strokes.

"It was the best iron shot I hit in two days," Upper said. "Maybe the only iron shot I hit in two days."