Captain of her own Ship
Photos by Andrew Riggs
Now a sophomore, Fresno State women’s golfer Jennifer Shipley has become a core member of the highly successful team. Shipley can be spotted at Riverbend Golf Course near Fresno, where she spends much of her free time working on her golf game.
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By Bradley Hart
The Collegian
Standing in the practice sand trap at Riverbend Golf Course, Jennifer Shipley seems to be almost bubbling with energy as she explains her strategy for getting out of such a hazard on a real hole.
“It’s an uphill bunker,” she analyzes. “I would try to put it how close you need it for an easy putt.”
Before she takes the shot, Shipley digs her feet ever so slightly into the sand with a fanning motion, as if she’s leveling herself off in the trap before swinging the club.
“It’s just my thing,” she explains with a smile. “We all have a little thing we do.”
Shipley’s shot blasts a flurry of sand in the air and lifts the ball out of the bunker with ease, landing it about five feet in front of the flag.
“That’s a good shot,” she concludes.
It’s the kind of shot that casual golfers would love to be able to make even occasionally, let alone every hole — but one gets the impression that for Shipley such shots are common.
Perhaps that’s to be expected when you’re talking about a golfer with more than a hundred career wins, who played her first tournament at age nine and moved on to play for the Clovis High golf team.
Shipley, now a sophomore business marketing major, only ended up at Fresno State after turning down recruiting offers from a list of schools that included Stanford and Cal.
Part of the reason, she said, was her upbringing in the Central Valley.
“I liked Fresno State,” she said. “I’ve grown up around here and that’s partly why I chose it.”
Shipley also has a family tie to the university. Her father Ken is an associate provost on campus, and she credits him with helping create her interest in golf by taking her to play as a small child.
Since then Shipley has accumulated an impressive list of accomplishments and accolades, including being named All-City MVP and High School Player of the Year during her tenure at Clovis High.
She was also included in GolfWeek’s Top 25 Recruiting Class list last year when she made the move into collegiate golf.
Her first season on the Fresno State team she was selected the women’s golf team’s Top ‘Dog and was named to the Second-team All-WAC.
Looking at her stats, it’s not hard to see why Shipley is considered such a promising talent.
Her career best score is five-under par, which Shipley said she scored twice during high school tournaments. For a casual practice round, Shipley said, she’d expect to end up with a score of even par or close to it.
These days Shipley’s schedule is filled by both her Fresno State classes and trips to the driving range and golf course, which she said often take place five or six times a week.
Tournaments and matches often take her out of the classroom and onto the golf course, usually causing her to miss eight or nine class meetings in a semester, she said.
Collegiate golf tournaments often last several days, with golfers playing 36 holes the first day and 18 the second, usually carrying their own clubs the whole way.
To prepare for matches and tournaments Shipley said she researches the course the team will be playing and tries to visualize how she’d like her round to go, shot by shot.
Once on the tee she tries to concentrate on the present rather than worry about the overall match.
“I try to think about the shot and take the game one shot at a time,” Shipley said.
Between rounds of tournaments, Shipley said she mentally reviews her performance in the last round and tries to find ways to improve it the next time she steps into the tee box.
“You kind of learn from your mistakes,” she said.
Though these days she’s often facing off against some of the best college golfers in the nation, Shipley said she’s never intimidated her competition.
“I tell myself, ‘I can beat any of them on a good day,’” she said. “I just need to have that good day.”
Despite the hours of practice and playing required by her sport, Shipley’s academic performance doesn’t seem to have suffered.
She was recently named a Fresno State Scholar-Athlete and made the Dean’s List of students with high GPAs.
“I really enjoy school,” Shipley said. “I like it more than high school because you get to choose your own classes.”
Shipley said after college she’s hoping to make the move into the professional golf circuit. If that doesn’t work out, though, she already has a backup plan.
“As a fallback, I could get my MBA,” she said.
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