Bob Lamb: Quinn works to improve fitness and confidence

By BOB LAMB / La Crosse Tribune

Life is good for Ryan Quinn.

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The personable Quinn is earning a paycheck almost every week. Quinn feels better physically and mentally. And, he’s going to be a father for the first time this fall.

The aspiring professional golfer, formerly of tiny Galesville, Wis., who now lives in Lincoln, Neb., is consistently cashing in on the Adams Golf Pro Tour Series each week.

The left-handed Quinn, five-time winner of the La Crosse Tribune County Amateur Golf Championships, is also on a new training program, one that has translated into an improved physique, better mental approach and renewed air of confidence.

Quinn, 31, is also beaming with pride. His wife, the former Meghan Dunham of La Crosse, is expecting twin boys after Meghan’s latest ultrasound last Friday.

“Both of us are ready to have children and this is a perfect time for us,” Quinn said. “At first, we were told it was one baby, but then when Meghan had the first ultrasound, there were two dots. The doctors said, ‘You didn’t know there were two?’”

Meghan’s sister, Meredith, has twin boys and one girl. Now, there will be another set of twins in the family.

Meanwhile, Quinn spends as much time refining his game, practicing, and putting thousands of miles on his vehicle traveling from one mini tour event to another. Yet, the most beneficial trips he makes are to a fitness clinic in Kansas City, Kan. “I feel great. My body is as good as it’s ever been. My swing feels better and I feel like a better person,” said the 5-foot, 10-inch, 170-pound Quinn.

The talented Quinn said fitness officials determined where his deficiencies were in addition to his flexibility, strengths and weaknesses. He is pleased with the improvement so far.

“My flexibility is so much better and my upper body is where they want it to be,” Quinn said.

“I have probably lost five pounds and I’m in better shape, although this program isn’t about building muscles. It’s more about flexibility and stretching, kind of like yoga.”

Quinn said he doesn’t become as tired during a competitive round or on the practice range afterwards. He also has a better frame of mind.

The former NCAA Division III Player of the Year has played four of six Adams Golf Pro Tour Series this spring. He is in 41st place on the current money list with $4,531.33, making three of four cuts.

Quinn finished in a tie for 23rd place in his first Adams Golf Pro Tour Series event and made $1,363, before missing the cut in the second tournament this spring. However, he tied for 11th place and pocketed $2,013.33 two weeks ago and then followed with a tie for 26th place, good enough for $1,165 in the Adidas Fort Worth Classic last weekend.

“I need to play a little bit better, although I usually play better in the summer and fall, so I know I can build on this spring,” he said.

In addition to his regular mini tour schedule, Quinn will try to qualify for five or six Nationwide Tour events.

“If I make a couple of those events and play well, I could get on the Nationwide, at least with conditional status,” he said. ‘Otherwise, if I could make it to the third stage of PGA Tour Qualifying School this fall, I could get conditional status on the Nationwide that way, too.”

MAGIC NUMBER: No. 20 was the popular number for three La Crosse area players competing in the Wisconsin state Golf Association Senior Tour event No. 2 at Bristlecone Pines Golf Club in Hartland, Wis.

La Crosse’s Joe Loomis and Don Nontelle, along with John Hogden of Black River Falls, finished in an 11-way tie for 20th place in the low gross division. Greg Johnson, also from Black River Falls, finished in a seven-way tie for 103rd place.

Nontelle finished in 14-way tie in the low net division, while Loomis shared 49th place. Hogden tied for 101st place and Johnson 132nd place.

U.S. BANK UPDATE: Loren Roberts and Jeff Sluman, both two-time winners in Milwaukee, have committed to play in this year’s U.S. Bank Championship.

Roberts, who turns 54 at the start of the event, and Sluman, who will be 51, are members of the Champions Tour. However, Roberts and Sluman have playing status on the PGA Tour this season from their rankings in the top-50 all-time on the PGA Tour career money list.

Roberts is making his 23rd start in Milwaukee and first since 2004. He appeared in the event 22 consecutive times between 1983 and 2004.

Roberts has eight PGA Tour victories and eight Champions Tour wins.

Sluman is making his 21st start in Milwaukee and first since 2007.

Chez Reavie, Marc Turnesa and Michael Bradley, all winners on the PGA Tour in the past year, have also committed to play in the U.S. Bank Championship.

Reavie, a rookie on the PGA Tour last year, earned the first victory of his career at the 2008 RBC Canadian Open. Marc Turnesa, also a rookie on the PGA Tour last year, collected the first victory of his career at the 2008 Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open in Las Vegas. Bradley is a three-time winner on the PGA Tour.

HALL OF FAME: Jose Maria Olazabal, a two-time Masters champion and part of the “Spanish Armada” with Seve Ballesteros that became the most formidable team in the Ryder Cup, has been elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame.

Olazabal was elected on the International ballot and will be inducted Nov. 2 at the World Golf Village in St. Augustine, Fla.

His election looked unlikely when Olazabal, 43, suffered a career-threatening foot injury in the mid-1990s that confined him to the couch for nearly two years. He recovered to win the Masters in 1999 for the second time.

Olazabal won 29 times around the world. He and Ballesteros combined to go 11-2-2 as teammates in the Ryder Cup.