No. 12 Ole Miss is heading to Sea Island, Ga., this week for the SEC Championship Wednesday-Sunday at Sea Island Golf Club.

It’s the 25th year the conference has held its championship at the Georgia coast venue, and the Rebs are looking to extend their postseason streak to nine straight years.

All 16 SEC teams will compete in three rounds of stroke play to open the tournament. Those rounds determine individual honors and bracket seeding.

The top eight teams advance to match play on Saturday and Sunday, with the championship match airing live on SEC Network at 7 a.m. Sunday. Saturday’s semifinals will be available on SEC Network+.

The Rebels bring a strong lineup into the week. Senior Tom Fischer leads the squad in scoring average (69.96), rounds under par (19) and birdies (109).

He’s ranked No. 13 in the PGA TOUR U Rankings and No. 34 in the World Amateur Golf Rankings.

Fischer enters the tournament riding six straight rounds under par dating back to April 3, including a win at the Mossy Oak Collegiate.

Senior Cameron Tankersley sits at No. 15 in PGA TOUR U and No. 35 in the WAGR.

He picked up his first collegiate win earlier this season at The Invitational at the Honors Course in Chattanooga, where Ole Miss swept both the individual and team titles.

He leads the team with nine rounds in the 60s.

Cohen Trolio, also a senior, is ranked No. 23 in PGA TOUR U and No. 63 in the WAGR. He’s posted three top-10 finishes this season, including a third-place result to open the year in Knoxville.

Junior Collins Trolio rounds out the experienced core. He’s made nine starts this season, owns a 72.96 scoring average and picked up a top-10 finish at the Thomas Sharkey Individual.

Freshman Daniel Tolf adds another dimension to the lineup.

The Gothenburg, Sweden, native won at the Watersound Invitational earlier this spring, posting a 54-hole score of 201 (-9) to set a new career low. He also set a new career-low 18-hole score by shooting back-to-back 65s at that event.

Tolf became the first Ole Miss freshman in nearly 10 years to win at least a share of an individual title.

The last freshman to do it was Braden Thornberry, who won at the FAU Slomin Autism Invite in March 2016.

The field at Sea Island is loaded. It includes No. 1 Auburn, No. 3 Texas, No. 4 Florida, No. 5 Arkansas and No. 8 LSU, among others.

Trolio Brothers Bring a Unique Dynamic

One of the more interesting storylines this week involves Cohen and Collins Trolio, brothers competing together for a second straight season.

Cohen reflected on what it means to share the experience.

“We have a really cool relationship and have been around each other and our best friends,” Cohen said. “I missed him when I was gone and we’d talk on the phone most nights, but it’s cool to be able to come to a school and play together and learn from other people.”

Collins echoed that sentiment.

“It could not have worked out any better because I never saw us getting the chance to play collegiately together,” Collins said. “I learned to play the game by watching Cohen so it’s cool now that we get to compete against each other and play on the same team.”

The trio of Fischer, Tankersley and Cohen Trolio have combined to play in 124 collegiate events across 364 rounds. All three rank inside the top 65 of the WAGR and the top 25 of PGA TOUR U.

Ole Miss enters SEC play off a sweep of the Mossy Oak Collegiate, their final regular-season event.

It’s the second straight year the Rebels took both team and individual honors in their regular-season finale.

The team also swept at The Invitational at the Honors Course earlier this year, making it two team sweeps and eight top-five finishes on the season.

Rebels coach Chris Malloy is in his 12th year leading the program. The Rebs finished as NCAA semifinalists last spring and set multiple program records that season, including the most team rounds under par in a single year.

Ole Miss lost one of its most important figures on Friday with the passing of John Warner Alford Jr.

He wore nearly every hat there is in college sports from student-athlete, coach and athletics director and did it all at the same institution he loved for more than three decades.

Alford dedicated over 30 years to Ole Miss Athletics before passing away on Friday. His journey from a young player in the late 1950s to one of the most respected administrators in the country tells a story that’s rare in college athletics.

He didn’t just pass through Oxford. Alford helped build it.

A championship foundation

As a guard under legendary coach John Vaught, Alford and quarterback Jake Gibbs served as permanent co-captains of the 1960 squad.

That team didn’t just win games — it won everything.

The Rebels defeated Rice in the Sugar Bowl and were named National Champions by the Football Writers Association of America. On top of that, Ole Miss won the Southeastern Conference championship that year with a 5-0-1 league record.

That’s the foundation Alford was built on with a championship-caliber career as a player that eventually fueled everything he’d do on the administrative side.

After graduating with a BBA degree in June of 1961, Alford spent four years as a young business executive in McComb before deciding in 1965 that he wanted to return to football. He wasn’t done with the game, and the game wasn’t done with him.

Coaching before coming home

After earning his master’s degree in economics, Alford joined the collegiate coaching ranks at Davidson College in North Carolina, where he served 14 months as defensive coordinator before spending three years as an assistant coach at Georgia Tech.

Those stops away from Oxford made him a better football mind. When the Rebs came calling, he answered.

Alford returned to Ole Miss after six years away, when he was named the Rebels’ defensive line coach in 1971 and served in that position for three seasons.

In 1974, Alford was named Assistant Director of Athletics and Director of Rebel Recruiting. In 1977, he gave up his recruiting duties to focus fully on administrative work before being named Director of Athletics in 1978.

Building program from the ground up

During his 16 years as director, Alford helped produce one of the nation’s finest athletics programs, including progress on the fields of competition, in the classroom and in facilities.

The physical changes alone were remarkable. Through the Drive for Athletics, a $10 million effort, Vaught-Hemingway Stadium received a major facelift, a new press box and 29 sky boxes.

A lighting system installed in the summer of 1990 brought night football to the campus, and 7,000 end zone seats were added while natural grass replaced artificial turf.

Alford also oversaw the construction of Swayze Field, a new tennis center, renovations to the golf course and the track facility, plus a $3.5 million Athletics Training Center addition to the “Doc” Knight Field House.

But buildings only tell part of the story. When Alford took over as athletics director in 1978, Ole Miss sponsored eight sports.

By the time he left the position in 1994, that number had grown to 15 — eight for men and seven for women. Alford also served on the committee to formulate plans to bring women’s athletics into the Southeastern Conference.

A national voice in college sports

Alford’s reputation didn’t stop at the Oxford city limits. He was a national figure in college athletics administration during a period of significant change in the sport.

Alford served on the NCAA Council, as president-elect of the Division I-A Athletics Directors Association and as first vice-president of the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics.

He also chaired the CFA Athletic Directors Committee and was a member of the CFA Board of Directors.

He was additionally a member of the NCAA Professional Sports Liaison Committee, the NCAA Honors Committee and the NCAA Certification Committee, while also serving on the Southeastern Conference Executive Committee, the SEC Basketball Tournament Site Selection Committee and the CFA Television Committee.

Those aren’t just titles. That’s a resume built on trust, respect and a long track record of getting things done the right way.

Life after the director’s chair

After retiring as athletics director in 1994, Alford returned to Ole Miss in several roles, including executive assistant for development for the University of Mississippi Foundation, coordinator of external programs for the Trent Lott Leadership Institute and work with the Ole Miss First scholarship program.

He served as executive director of the Ole Miss Alumni Association from 2004 to 2008, overseeing significant growth in the club program and the addition of the tower to The Inn at Ole Miss.

His commitment to future generations of students was also lasting.

In 2013, the University of Mississippi Foundation created the Warner and Kay Alford Ole Miss Opportunity Endowment with a $50,000 gift, with annual income from the endowment providing Ole Miss Opportunity scholarships to academically deserving students from lower-income families in Mississippi.

Honors that speak for themselves

The awards and recognitions Alford earned across the decades reflect a career built on consistency and impact.

He was inducted into the M-Club Alumni Hall of Fame in 1999, the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame in 2003, the University of Mississippi Alumni Hall of Fame in 2009 and the NACDA Hall of Fame in 2018.

Also in 2018, he received the University of Mississippi Alumni Service Award.

The School of Business Administration at the University of Mississippi inducted Alford into its inaugural Hall of Fame in 2024 and also honored him with the Service Award for his contributions to the school.

Family first

Behind the championships and construction projects and committee meetings was a family man. Alford married the former Kay Swayze of Oxford on Feb. 11, 1961, and after almost 64 years of marriage, Kay passed away on February 3, 2025.

They have three children — Swayze Alford, John Alford III and Phyllis Alford Daniels — and seven grandchildren: Lilly, Grace, Grant, Clayton, John Swayze, John Warner and Jude.

Memorial service details are to be determined.

Warner Alford Jr. spent his life in service to Ole Miss — as a player who helped bring home a national title, as a coach who developed players on the defensive line and as an administrator who transformed a program.

He didn’t just leave a legacy in Oxford. He built one, brick by brick, season by season.

Ole Miss men’s golf reigning NCAA champion is forgoing a unique opportunity for another unique opportunity.

Michael La Sasso won an exemption to participate in this year’s Masters tournament after claiming the NCAA Individual Championship last year. However, he has given up his amateur status to go pro.

La Sasso has joined LIV Golf and the Phil Mickelson-led HyFlyers GC.

“I’m incredibly excited to join HyFlyers GC and take this next step in my career,” La Sasso said in a release. “It’s a rare opportunity to learn from one of the greatest players in the history of the game, and I don’t take that lightly. LIV Golf allows me to compete at the highest level on a global stage, and I thrive in a team environment, especially one with the camaraderie and support that defines HyFlyers GC. My focus is on learning, continuing to improve, and doing everything I can to help our team succeed.”

“Michael is one of the most exciting young players in the game today, bringing a competitive fire that’s evident every time he tees it up,” Mickelson said in a statement. “He combines tremendous power and speed with an exceptional feel for the game. Beyond his talent, his personality, work ethic, and commitment to being a great teammate make him a terrific addition to HyFlyers GC.”

The decision also forfeits his remaining college eligibility, meaning he won’t be around to defend his national title.

“For Mike, it was a decision that was, from my understanding, a little bit of a no-brainer and he needed to make financially for his future,” Ole Miss head coach Chris Malloy told Golf Channel. “The timing wasn’t ideal; Mike really struggled with this. He’s a team guy, and this was not an easy decision for him.”

The Rebels, ranked No. 10 in the country after last season’s NCAA semifinal finish, still have seven players on the roster following La Sasso’s departure, though just three have seen significant action – Cameron Tankersley, Tom Fischer and Cohen Trolio.

“(Teammates) were supportive,” Malloy said. “Certainly, nobody’s fired up to lose a guy like Mike when we’re trying to make a run at an NCAA Championship. But they understand. Ultimately, we play kind of a selfish sport, and you’ve got to look out for yourself. As far as what we do, I could give you all kinds of coach speak, next man up or whatever, but it is what it is. I’m looking forward to seeing how these guys react. If I know my guys, I think they’ll rise up to the challenge.

“I know exactly what everyone is going to say about us. I know that everyone is going to go, well, they’re screwed now. And I love that. I can’t wait to go out and prove people wrong.”

La Sasso played in six PGA Tour events last season and missed the cut in five of them, including the U.S. Open, where he shot a pair of 75s. He finished tied for 44th last July at the 3M Open, where he finished 11 under par.

The LIV season starts in two weeks in Saudi Arabia where La Sasso is expected to make his professional debut.