The University of Mississippi Athletics
Monday, September 25
Birmingham, Ala. | Birmingham Country Club
Ole Miss
vs
SEC Fall Preview
Men’s Golf Goes Head to Head with Conference at SEC Fall Preview
9/24/2023 | Men's Golf
Rebels Continue Fall Season in Birmingham
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – After a historic start to the season with a program-record best round and a 2nd place finish in Knoxville, the Ole Miss men's golf team looks to have continued success in its fall season as the Rebels travel to Birmingham to compete in the SEC Fall Preview hosted by Jerry Pate.
The three-day event will be held Monday through Wednesday, Sept. 25-27, at the par 71, 7,226-yard Birmingham Country Club. All 14 SEC schools will compete in 54 holes of stroke play with match play coming on the final day. The top two finishers from stroke play will square off in the final groupings of the day, while the 12 other teams will square off in an East vs. West Match Play format.
TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Monday, Sept. 25 – 36 holes of stroke play (Rebels shotgun start at 8:30 a.m.)
Tuesday, Sept. 26 – 18 holes of stroke play
Wednesday, Sept. 27 – Match play
THE LINEUP
Michael La Sasso (So.)
• Earned career bests with low-18 (63), low-54 (200) and best finish (T2) at Visit Knoxville Collegiate
• Boasting a 66.67 stroke average after first tournament with Ole Miss
• All three rounds accounted towards team score at Visit Knoxville Collegiate
• Averaging 5.33 birdies per round
Tom Fischer (So.)
• Earned career bests with low-18 (65), low-54 (206) and best finish (T8) at Visit Knoxville Collegiate
• Tied for 8th finish at Knoxville was first top-10 finish
• Averaging 3.66 birdies per round
• Competing with a 68.87 stroke average
Tim Tillmanns (Sr.)
• Earned a top-10 finish in his first tournament in a Rebel uniform
• T10 finish marked his 14th top-10 finish in his career
• Made eight birdies and an eagle while in Knoxville
• Holds a 69.00 stroke average
Cameron Tankersley (So.)
• Making his 14th career appearance in the lineup for Ole Miss
• Placed in the top-15 at the Visit Knoxville Collegiate
• Shot a 64 (-6) in the final round to launch him up 20 spots on the leaderboard
• Competing with a 69.33 stroke average
Patton Samuels (So.)
• Put in a 67 during the final round of the Visit Knoxville Collegiate
• Made eight birdies in the first tournament of the fall season
• Competing in his 12th career tournament
• Holds a 70.67 stroke average
THE FIELD
Alabama
Arkansas
Auburn
Florida
Georgia
LSU
Kentucky
Missouri
Mississippi State
Ole Miss
South Carolina
Tennessee
Texas A&M
Vanderbilt
THE COURSE
Originally laid out in the mid-1920s by the notable and prolific Scotsman Donald Ross, the West Course led its sister East by a year, opening in 1925. Significant renovations came about both in 1959-60 and the mid-1980s. Today's course blends the talents of three World Golf Hall of Fame architects: Ross, Robert Trent Jones, Sr., and Pete Dye. Notably, Dye believes it's the one course in existence to be crafted by this trio of golf course architects elected to the Hall. Long a competitive venue for everything from weekend dogfight matches to USGA qualifiers, with a special record of Alabama and Southern Amateur Championships, the West made a fitting host for the 2013 U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship, the 2016 Men's State Team Championship, and the 2022 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship.
THOUGHTS FROM COACH MALLOY
"This will be an extremely challenging week for us and will show us where we are as a team at this point in the season. The golf course is extremely challenging. These will be some of the most demanding greens that we play this fall. I know that our guys are eager to get back to tournament play."
REBS ON THE CLIMB
As the first polls of the season began to roll in, Ole Miss was highly noticed by the GolfWeek rankings as the No. 6 team in the nation. The Rebels were one of seven SEC schools to be ranked in the top 20. The nod came from Ole Miss' impressive performance at the Visit Knoxville Collegiate where the Rebels finished in 2nd place with a 24-under overall score.
IT JUST MEANS MORE
At last year's SEC Fall Preview tournament, Ole Miss finished the stroke play portion at 11-under for a tie of 8th place. During the final round, the Rebels shot a 268 round that counted as the then-program record round for the lowest single round score. Cameron Tankersley led for Ole Miss and notched career-bests with a 63 round score and 203 overall score. In the match play portion, the No. 7 seed Rebels took down the No. 11 seed South Carolina 3-2.
RECORD BREAKING REBS
Leaving nothing behind, Ole Miss went out with a bang at the Visit Knoxville Collegiate, shooting 262 (-18) in the final round. The 262 round score wrote the 2023-24 Rebels in the record books as the lowest single-round total in program history, previously set last season at the 2022 SEC Fall Preview when Ole Miss shot a 268 round.
The 18-under final round posted by the Rebels was the best round of the weekend out of the 14-team field. With the successful third round, Ole Miss nearly closed a 16-stroke gap, finishing one shot behind the tournament champions Tennessee.
NEXT ON THE TEE
Following this week's competition in Birmingham, Ole Miss will head down to Biloxi, Mississippi to co-host the Fallen Oak Collegiate Invitational (Oct. 13-15) with Mississippi State and Southern Miss at the Fallen Oak Golf Course.
FOLLOW THE REBELS
For updates throughout the season, follow the Rebels on Twitter at @OleMissMGolf. Additional updates and information on the team can be found on Instagram at OleMissMGolf, on Facebook at Ole Miss Men's Golf and on OleMissSports.com.
The three-day event will be held Monday through Wednesday, Sept. 25-27, at the par 71, 7,226-yard Birmingham Country Club. All 14 SEC schools will compete in 54 holes of stroke play with match play coming on the final day. The top two finishers from stroke play will square off in the final groupings of the day, while the 12 other teams will square off in an East vs. West Match Play format.
TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Monday, Sept. 25 – 36 holes of stroke play (Rebels shotgun start at 8:30 a.m.)
Tuesday, Sept. 26 – 18 holes of stroke play
Wednesday, Sept. 27 – Match play
THE LINEUP
Michael La Sasso (So.)
• Earned career bests with low-18 (63), low-54 (200) and best finish (T2) at Visit Knoxville Collegiate
• Boasting a 66.67 stroke average after first tournament with Ole Miss
• All three rounds accounted towards team score at Visit Knoxville Collegiate
• Averaging 5.33 birdies per round
Tom Fischer (So.)
• Earned career bests with low-18 (65), low-54 (206) and best finish (T8) at Visit Knoxville Collegiate
• Tied for 8th finish at Knoxville was first top-10 finish
• Averaging 3.66 birdies per round
• Competing with a 68.87 stroke average
Tim Tillmanns (Sr.)
• Earned a top-10 finish in his first tournament in a Rebel uniform
• T10 finish marked his 14th top-10 finish in his career
• Made eight birdies and an eagle while in Knoxville
• Holds a 69.00 stroke average
Cameron Tankersley (So.)
• Making his 14th career appearance in the lineup for Ole Miss
• Placed in the top-15 at the Visit Knoxville Collegiate
• Shot a 64 (-6) in the final round to launch him up 20 spots on the leaderboard
• Competing with a 69.33 stroke average
Patton Samuels (So.)
• Put in a 67 during the final round of the Visit Knoxville Collegiate
• Made eight birdies in the first tournament of the fall season
• Competing in his 12th career tournament
• Holds a 70.67 stroke average
THE FIELD
Alabama
Arkansas
Auburn
Florida
Georgia
LSU
Kentucky
Missouri
Mississippi State
Ole Miss
South Carolina
Tennessee
Texas A&M
Vanderbilt
THE COURSE
Originally laid out in the mid-1920s by the notable and prolific Scotsman Donald Ross, the West Course led its sister East by a year, opening in 1925. Significant renovations came about both in 1959-60 and the mid-1980s. Today's course blends the talents of three World Golf Hall of Fame architects: Ross, Robert Trent Jones, Sr., and Pete Dye. Notably, Dye believes it's the one course in existence to be crafted by this trio of golf course architects elected to the Hall. Long a competitive venue for everything from weekend dogfight matches to USGA qualifiers, with a special record of Alabama and Southern Amateur Championships, the West made a fitting host for the 2013 U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship, the 2016 Men's State Team Championship, and the 2022 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship.
THOUGHTS FROM COACH MALLOY
"This will be an extremely challenging week for us and will show us where we are as a team at this point in the season. The golf course is extremely challenging. These will be some of the most demanding greens that we play this fall. I know that our guys are eager to get back to tournament play."
REBS ON THE CLIMB
As the first polls of the season began to roll in, Ole Miss was highly noticed by the GolfWeek rankings as the No. 6 team in the nation. The Rebels were one of seven SEC schools to be ranked in the top 20. The nod came from Ole Miss' impressive performance at the Visit Knoxville Collegiate where the Rebels finished in 2nd place with a 24-under overall score.
IT JUST MEANS MORE
At last year's SEC Fall Preview tournament, Ole Miss finished the stroke play portion at 11-under for a tie of 8th place. During the final round, the Rebels shot a 268 round that counted as the then-program record round for the lowest single round score. Cameron Tankersley led for Ole Miss and notched career-bests with a 63 round score and 203 overall score. In the match play portion, the No. 7 seed Rebels took down the No. 11 seed South Carolina 3-2.
RECORD BREAKING REBS
Leaving nothing behind, Ole Miss went out with a bang at the Visit Knoxville Collegiate, shooting 262 (-18) in the final round. The 262 round score wrote the 2023-24 Rebels in the record books as the lowest single-round total in program history, previously set last season at the 2022 SEC Fall Preview when Ole Miss shot a 268 round.
The 18-under final round posted by the Rebels was the best round of the weekend out of the 14-team field. With the successful third round, Ole Miss nearly closed a 16-stroke gap, finishing one shot behind the tournament champions Tennessee.
NEXT ON THE TEE
Following this week's competition in Birmingham, Ole Miss will head down to Biloxi, Mississippi to co-host the Fallen Oak Collegiate Invitational (Oct. 13-15) with Mississippi State and Southern Miss at the Fallen Oak Golf Course.
FOLLOW THE REBELS
For updates throughout the season, follow the Rebels on Twitter at @OleMissMGolf. Additional updates and information on the team can be found on Instagram at OleMissMGolf, on Facebook at Ole Miss Men's Golf and on OleMissSports.com.
Players Mentioned
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/ Men's Golf
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