Wanda English Burnett
Editor
Published in the Versailles Republican, October 9, 2025
Batesville’s Ava South becomes just the second student-athlete in Ripley County history to earn an Indiana Player of the Year nod. South, a four-time state finalist, was named Indiana Miss Golf.
Mr. and Miss … two titles in the realm of high school sports in the state of Indiana that remain very sacred in these parts given the fact that just one Ripley County native had obtained such a status. But now the number is two and rightfully so because Batesville senior Ava South is that good … and most importantly, that deserving.
South has been named Indiana’s Miss Golf for the 2025 season, the second to bear the title after the honor was introduced in 2024 by the Indiana High School Golf Coaches Association. She is the first Mr. or Miss in Ripley County since Milan’s Bobby Plump was named Indiana Mr. Basketball in 1954.
That award, along with All-State honors for a fourth-straight year and the IHSAA Girls Golf Mental Attitude Award from Farm Bureau Insurance were all accolades bestowed upon her at the conclusion of the Girls Golf State Finals last weekend where South finished tied for 12th place on the individual leaderboard. She wrapped up her time in blue and white as a four-time state finalist who finished second, third, fifth and 12th in that span and just the second golfer in Batesville history to nab All-State honors four consecutive years.
The title of Indiana Miss Golf is given to a senior who has succeeded out on the golf course throughout their entire career. There’s no question that based on that criteria alone, South is the most obvious choice. Whether it has been as a Lady Bulldog or out on her own in the spring and summer, she’s won nearly every championship there is to win, been on every team imaginable and set whatever record there is to be set.
And that’s all there is to talk about, right? The medals, the accolades, the college offers and the talent? I mean, this writer certainly could. But this writer also knows good and well there’s more to Ava South that makes her stand out far beyond her scorecard over the last four years.
The journalist in me appreciates how well-spoken she is. The coach in me admires her passion and talent. The me that’s just a regular sports fan like you, combined with those two roles appreciates all the above, alongside what matters most … the fact that she’s the ultimate teammate and person.
“I didn’t love golf. I didn’t have the passion for golf. It wasn’t until I came to Batesville that my teammates allowed me to love it and have the passion for it,” South said. “They helped me realize this isn’t an individual sport. You can work with a group of people in order to achieve a common goal and also your own.”
Those are words she spoke to me. It’s the quote that just sticks and has yet to leave my mind. That’s a four-time state finalist talking. That’s a future NCAA Division I student-athlete talking. Someone who if she wanted to could have forgotten all about the team and still found success in a sport where many think it is OK to be selfish.
And nobody would have batted an eyelash. But at the end of this past weekend, even with the brightest days ahead, her tears after another state appearance were not those of selfishness, but of knowing that lifelong friends would no longer be teammates.
I have zero idea of the mindset of those also competing at the state’s highest level, but I have a hard time believing that there was another competitor or let alone a senior golfer who could utter such words and boost such an unselfish mentality. So at the end of the day, while an award may be based on talent, I hope that the decision makers also saw the person, the teammate, the best friend and the senior leader. If they did, they quickly must have realized that there was nobody even within a chip shot of Ava South.
“There’s a next chapter to life,” South says. “Now that there’s that fire for golf because of those beside me here and I can’t wait to see where it takes me.”
The fire triggered by the people she loves most has already led her to the throne of Indiana’s Miss Golf. What is next? Only time will tell and I sure do hope the University of Illinois-Chicago can only add to the fire and will allow for all of us to have not heard the last of Ava South.
But given the new chapter, I bid you this. No matter if it’s the accomplishments, the leader or the teammate that you have read about over the last four years, I hope you realize that Ava South has been a different kind of special, a gem that just doesn’t always appear above ground in our area … a gem that shines far beyond a title.
