The eighth best golfer in the state has signed to play golf for the University of South Carolina next season, and he joins the Gamecocks from Cheraw High School.

Seventeen-year-old Baker Elmore sports a 0.7 handicap.

"I'm ecstatic about going to play for Carolina," Elmore said. "I basically know the whole team already, so I'm really excited about getting down there to play. The team has had a lot of success the past couple of years, and we hope to build on that in the four years to come."

Elmore should have no problem competing against other Division 1 collegiate talent. The oldest son of Mike and Debbie Elmore, he has played competitive golf since he was 12 years old and has seen plenty of action against some of the best golfers in the nation.

In his first three seasons with the Cheraw High team, Elmore won six of the 14 tournaments he participated in, while finishing in the top five 11 times.

During the off season when school is out, Elmore spends his summers competing in various junior amateur tournaments.

This past summer, Elmore earned a chance to compete in the Junior PGA National Championships held in Ohio and also qualified to compete in the South Carolina Amateur Championships.

USC golf coach Puggy Blackman said the decision to offer Elmore a spot on the Gamecock golf team was an easy one because of his success on the golf course and in the classroom.

"The biggest thing with Baker is that he epitomizes the word student-athlete," Blackman said. "He's been a high profile golfer in South Carolina for the past couple of years now, and he's also excelled academically. He's going to be a good fit with our program."

Elmore is ranked fifth academically of the 165 seniors at Cheraw High. He scored 1220 on the SAT in January and has a grade-point average of 3.846 out of a possible 4.0.

Elmore plans to major in political science and go to law school.