Ken Shipley didn't know it at the time, but all those golf experiences he shared with daughter Jennifer - either playing with her or watching her for hundreds of rounds - would benefit him as a girls coach some day at Clovis West High.

"There's no question about it," The Bee's repeat Coach of the Year says. "To have raised a competitive daughter, to have watched her in more than 180 tournaments, to see how certain girls could play better, how they didn't improve as much, to have seen so much, to have been around so much, I'd like to think it has all helped feed some of the success I've had."

That success, combining three consecutive Central Section Division I team titles with record-breaking scores, is unprecedented.

In 2007, the recently retired Fresno State associate provost inherited a Golden Eagles team that had won the section 2006 title with an average 18-hole team score of 438.7, equating to an average of 87.7 for the five scoring individuals.

Then, under Shipley's guidance, those figures lowered to 426.3 and 85.3 in 2007, 410.0 and 82.0 in '08 and section-records 393.4 and 78.7 this season.

The highlights this year were a section-record 378 at the North Area tournament at - breaking the program's own mark of 391, set in 2008 - and a 15-stroke victory at the section championships.

They've followed Shipley's five-point emphasis:

- Improving their short game, everything from short putts to 100 yards.

- Managing themselves and the course.

- Consistent and productive practice.

- Preparing well.

And putting "bad things" (bad hole, bad break, bad shot, etc.) behind them and into the past tense.

In addition, Clovis West - which also delivered The Bee's Player of the Year in Asia Adell and first-team All-Stars in Morgan Thomas and Alison Ross - had five of its top six players earn grade-point averages of 3.5 or better, and will likely have four attend college on scholarship.

For Shipley, it all goes back to hitting the course as a player or observer with daughter Jennifer, the former Clovis High and Fresno State great.

"Absolutely," the coach says. "I've seen so many levels of golf. And those countless hours with Jennifer, playing and practicing; it was a marvelous time, a wonderful opportunity for us to play the sport together. We've had a special relationship, and it has really impacted me."