Taft College Closes Big 8 Regular Season at Copper River Behind Shipley’s 81

Taft College concluded the Big 8 Conference regular season Monday at Copper River Country Club in Fresno, with sophomore Brady Shipley leading the Cougars men's golf team with an 81 in a challenging conference round hosted by Fresno City College.

Competing against the full Big 8 field, Taft navigated a day that offered favorable weather but little margin for error on the course. Author-supplied notes described beautiful conditions, yet the round was shaped by difficult pin placements and demanding overall course setup, factors that tested each lineup throughout the day. Within that setting, Shipley delivered the Cougars' low score and set the tone for Taft's finish in the final regular-season conference event.

Ryker Scherer, also a sophomore, followed with an 86 to provide Taft's second-best round. The Cougars' top two scores gave the team a steady foundation on a course that rewarded patience and punished missed approaches and short-sided recovery attempts. While full team totals and complete individual conference results were not provided, Taft's leading performances from Shipley and Scherer stood out as the clearest bright spots from the day.

Taft College Head Coach Dan Walters stated, "These guys have been improving individually all season and to come to a tough course where we did not play well at all as a team, we saw an average of 8 strokes per player. This is what we want to see going into the Nor Cal Regionals next week."
Copper River Country Club served as the site for Big 8 Conference No. 12, the last stop of the regular-season league schedule. With all conference teams in attendance, the event carried the feel of a measuring-stick round, and Taft's veterans were central to the effort. Shipley's 81 was the low mark for the Cougars, and Scherer's 86 kept Taft competitive as the round unfolded across a course that offered few easy scoring opportunities.

For Taft College, the day also marked the close of the regular-season conference slate, an important checkpoint as the Cougars assess their form moving forward. On a layout where low numbers were difficult to find, Shipley's 81 and Scherer's 86 gave Taft dependable performances in its final Big 8 regular-season appearance.