ST. CLAIRSVILLE — For the second year in a row, Gabby Woods is the best women’s amateur golfer in the state of Ohio.

This time, she’s looking for a better showing in the next step of her journey.

With a win Thursday in the 101st Women’s Ohio State Golf Association Amateur Championship tournament at Belmont Hills Country Club, Woods has earned another berth in the USGA Women’s Amateur Golf Championship, Aug. 5-11 at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Okla.

“We were in the middle of making some (swing) changes when we went to L.A. (Los Angeles) last year,” said Doug Ledford, East Clinton High School graduate who now serves as Woods’ swing coach. “We know (last year) was on us. We didn’t hit it bad the last nine holes, it just didn’t happen. That was just the golf gods telling us we weren’t ready yet.”

Playing at Bel-Air Country Club in Los Angeles, Woods was tied for 19th after the first day of competition in the national amateur tournament last year and played the next nine holes in 1-under par on the second day. But she went 8-over par on the final nine and missed the cut to 64.

“Some of her game was accepting of the changes,” Ledford said. “It was kind of an ongoing process that’s just starting to gel.”

The NCAA Division II national champion golfer this season, Woods began competition in the Ohio amateur tournament Monday with an even par 72. As defending tournament champion, Woods was automatically qualified for the match play portion of the event but decided to play Monday as “an extra practice round,” Ledford said.

“Being the competitor Gabby is, she wanted to be (qualifying) medalist,” said Ledford.

The top 32 from the qualifying round advanced to Tuesday’s start of match play. From there, Woods was, as Ledford called it, “a buzzsaw.” She won 5 and 3 Tuesday, played a pair of close matches Wednesday with 2 and 1 and then 2 up victories, before playing just 27 of 36 holes Thursday with 8 and 6 win in the semifinal and a 5 and 4 blitzing in the championship match.

“She basically played 27 holes (Thursday) and was 8-under par,” said Ledford. “That’s really good.”

While Ledford wasn’t surprised with Woods’ play, he admitted she “struggled a little bit Sunday and even Monday off the tee.”

“We were in the process of working on a few things, so we expected that, but Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, it was fairways and greens,” he said. “It would have been tough for her to be any better. I couldn’t have asked her for any more.”

But more will be expected come Aug. 5 as Woods and Ledford hit the nation’s midsection in a couple weeks.

“Her game, as a whole, today, right now, is better than it’s ever been,” Ledford said. “It’s just really, really good.”