Judy Abbey is in a pretty enviable position as a coach.

Entering her 11th season in charge of the Bradford High girls golf team, Abbey has five returning letterwinners. One is the two-time defending District champion. Another has just as much talent according to her coach. Both are still only juniors. And the other three round out a top five as good as you’ll find anywhere.

More than anything else, it’s the time her players put into their games day in and day out that Abbey attributes to her team going eight years without losing a match.

“The kids are dedicated to this sport,” Abbey said. “It’s one of those sports where you can’t just pick up the ball and play; you have to dedicate yourself to your swing, your tempo. You have to put the effort into the sport. That’s what’s nice about my girls. They do put in the effort. That helps me with being able to coach them.”

Senior Emily Keltz, juniors Elyse Godding and Kate Huber, and sophomores Sadie Oliver and Adrienne Angell make up the five-woman Lady Owls squad that begins its 2018 season today at the State College Invitational.

In a sport where a coach can’t provide any input while a match is going on, Abbey says it’s all the more important for the players to put in their own work.

“Part of coaching golf is you have to have them play on their own,” Abbey said. “I’ve been fortunate with my girls because they put in the effort playing golf. That helps a lot. I’ll have solid players this year.”

Headlining the group is Godding, the two-time defending District 9 Champion who will look to make it three-for-three in her junior year.

What sets her apart from other young golfers according to Abbey is her unmatched work ethic.

“The thing about her is she’ll play 18 to 36 holes a day,” Abbey said of Godding. “She has worked really hard to on her game from driving to putting. That helps with consistency. It’s a game of muscle memory.”

Godding was the undisputed top golfer in her division in this summer’s Penn-York League and even received an invite to the Barry Bergreen Tournament at Bartlett Country Club, the only female golfer to do so.

“She’s a long ball hitter and she’s an excellent putter,” Abbey added.

Joining Godding at the top of Bradford’s lineup will be Huber, whom Abbey believes has similar potential to that of her classmate.

“I have two of the better young players in the area,” Abbey proclaimed.

Godding won the Pennhills Club Championship over the weekend, matching Godding’s own title from the year prior.

“That’s what I have to work with,” Abbey said of her top two golfers. “Kate is about total consistency. She was MVP of our league last year; that shows her caliber. She’s not big in stature but boy can she hit the ball.

“Those two are going to own golf in this area because their competition is each other,” she concluded.

Keltz, meanwhile, is a two-time letterwinner who brings veteran leadership to the team.

“She’s put in a lot of effort this summer,” Abbey said. “Her game has totally changed around. She’s worked to get consistent off the tee, and her scores have dropped a good amount.”

Angell and Oliver will look to improve after getting a year of varsity action under their belts.

“(Adrienne) got some competition playing against the other girls,” Abbey said. “She’s been working on her short game. She can hit the ball, she just has to get more consistent on the greens. But I’ve seen great improvement in her game.

“(Sadie’s) a pretty good long ball hitter. She just needs more consistency and more confidence in her game. Once she gets back into the swing of things, she’ll score plenty of points.”

The Lady Owls will have a jam-packed schedule, with today’s tournament kicking off a stretch of six competitive matches in 16 days.

But that doesn’t worry Abbey one bit; as they say, she’s got the goods.

“I have the girls who can play,” she said simply.

SCHEDULE

(home matches played at Pine Acres Country Club)

August

16 — at State College (Invitational)

17 — at Ridgway

21 — Tri-match w/ Coudersport, Ridgway

24 — Smethport

27 — at Cameron County

31 — at Kane

September

6 — at Coudersport (Invitational)

12 — Cameron County

13 — Kane

19 — at DuBois (Invitational)

20 — at Coudersport

22 — at McDowell (Invitational)

23 — at McDowell (Invitational)

25 — at Smethport

27 — North Penns Woods Tournament