Surrounded by family, Lamar senior golfer Eli Mitchell signs with South Alabama to continue his career Wednesday afternoon in the Lamar gymnasium.

Eli Mitchell has earned plenty of golfing accolades already, and he’ll look to add to that collection at the collegiate level.

The Lamar senior inked with South Alabama Wednesday afternoon surrounded by family, classmates, school faculty and coaches, and with the signing out of the way, Mitchell can now focus on helping the Raiders win their fifth-consecutive MAIS state title this coming spring. 

“It feels like a big accomplishment,” Mitchell said. “I’m happy it’s finally here, and I was ready for it.”

Tyler Daniels, Northwood Country Club’s golf pro who also coaches the Lamar team, said Mitchell has earned the chance to play beyond high school due to the many hours he’s worked on his game.

“It’s fantastic for Eli, just to see all of the hard work that he’s done really come to fruition and to pay off for him to get to the next level, which, coming from someone who has played college golf, I understand how hard that is to do, especially to play at the Division I level,” Daniels said. “I’m just extremely proud for him and for his family for all of the work he’s done.”

Mitchell is a regular at Northwood and even finds time to practice during Lamar’s football season despite that taking up several after-school hours — and every second was worth it, he said.

“It just shows the hard work has paid off and that practice helps,” Mitchell said. “You have to work for everything you want.”

This past Labor Day, Mitchell and Lamar teammate Brady Lagendyk won the Jimmy Gamblin Tournament at Northwood, a major accomplishment in the local golfing community. Now, Mitchell said he hopes to represent Lamar, Northwood and Meridian well at the Division I level, and he said South Alabama is a good place to do that.

“I really like the coach (Ben Hannan), and they have brand new facilities,” Mitchell said. “Everything on the campus is just new and booming, and Mobile (Alabama) is a great town.”

While he’ll miss having Mitchell around after this spring, Daniels said South Alabama is getting both a fantastic player and person.

“He’s a hard worker, both in the classroom and on the golf course, which from a college athlete, you certainly couldn’t ask for anything more,” Daniels said.