Columbus North freshman Ava Bunker is The Republic’s 2022 Girls Golfer of the Year. She is pictured at Timbergate Golf Course in Edinburgh, Ind., Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2022.
Mike Wolanin | The Republic
With the amount of time that Ava Bunker spends at Timbergate Golf Course practicing, working in Jeff Smith’s golf studio and playing rounds of golf, she practically lives at a golf course.
It takes thousands of hours and thousands of repetitions to be good at something. For Bunker, that comes in the form of practicing and playing many rounds of golf, while practicing at the driving range and on the putting green at Timbergate.
That type of commitment and dedication earned the Columbus North freshman her first tournament victory at 5 years old.
Add another 100 tournament victories a decade later, and Bunker is clearly the top high school girls golfer in the state. She showed that earlier last month in the state finals at Prairie View Golf Club when she won medalist honors by nine strokes.
Bunker led by five shots after a 3-under-par 69 the first day of competition. Although the state finals is a two-day tournament, the pressure did not get to Bunker, despite her being a freshman and playing on the biggest high school stage. But with her experience, she didn’t play like a freshman, and the pressure never fazed her for a moment. She shot 73 to finish at 2-under 142, which tied for fifth-best in the 50-year history of the state tournament and tied for the best in the nine years it’s been played at Prairie View.
“I did all the same stuff that I normally do for any other tournament I play. I treat it like any other tournament that I would,” said Bunker, The Republic Girls Golfer of the Year. “My focusing was like, ‘Let’s not focus on messing up.’ That was really all I was concerned about was, ‘Let’s not focus on the negativity.’”
When not playing in a tournament, a typical day for Bunker would be hitting on the range, playing 18 holes, sometimes with friends. She also goes to Carmel a couple days a week to work out.
Bunker doesn’t recall the exact number of balls she hits on a weekly basis, but she estimates that it’s probably in the thousands.
Not many freshmen have had the success Bunker had at such an early age. She’s already shattered the records books at North. She set the school record for 18 holes with a 5-under-par 66 in the Bloomington North Invitational Sept. 10 at Cascades and tied it with another 66 in the Bloomington North Sectional Sept. 19, also at Cascades. She also owns the nine-hole school record with a 6-under 30 in a match at Timbergate on Aug. 16.
“She’s developed a skill level that’s so good that she knows she has all the shots and the ability to handle difficult situations. She’s been there before, and that’s the part that makes her so good,” North coach Scott Seavers said. “She’s done this on so many different levels and done it for a long time, and she knows how to handle any type of situation. She doesn’t let the difficult situations bother her. Now, she gets angry sometimes, but she knows how to channel that into good golf. She didn’t put herself into really bad situations. She knows what to do.”
Bunker averaged a 34.2 per nine holes played this season. She averaged 33.1 just for nine-holes competitions and 69.6 for 18-hole tournaments.
The high school season might be over, but Bunker will still be playing plenty of golf in the season during the offseason. She’s lined up to play in several national tournaments across the country.
With Bunker already reaching the summit in her freshman campaign, she’s likely to be considered the favorite to win state championships over the next three years.
While golf is generally an individual sport, Bunker said she was thrilled to enjoy the team aspect of playing golf with the Bull Dogs. She thanks Smith, Seavers, all of her North teammates and the entire community for all of the support she has received.
“It was really good,” Bunker said. “It was a great season filled with many great people. It was very fun overall.”
The Republic All-Area Girls Golf team:
Ava Bunker, Columbus North: The freshman averaged 34.2 per nine holes played and won the individual state title.
Erin Hopkins, Columbus North: The junior averaged 43.5 per nine holes played.
Lindsey Hartwell, Columbus North: The junior averaged 46.2 per nine holes played.
Carter Gant, Columbus East: The junior averaged 41.3 per nine holes played.
Katie Hong, Columbus East: The senior averaged 43.5 per nine holes played.
Lilly Steinwedel, Columbus East: The senior averaged 46.9 per nine holes played.
Sophia Curry, Jennings County: The senior averaged 40.6 per nine holes played.
Alexis Carson, Jennings County: The junior averaged 43.4 per nine holes played.
Izzy Richardson, Edinburgh: The junior averaged 46.3 per nine holes played.
Honorable mention
Brown County: Hannah deWeerdt, Lilly VanNess. Columbus East: Grace LaSell, Ali Trueblood. Columbus North: Nettie Meeks, Ritisha Rashmil. Edinburgh: Macie Blandford. Jennings County: Lauren Galvan.
