Fresh Off SEC Title, Ole Miss Men’s Golf Heads to NCAA Regionals with Confidence and Experience

OXFORD, Miss. — The Ole Miss men’s golf team is coming off the program’s first SEC title in 41 years, coming out of Sea Island after a historic run, and the next step is the NCAA Regionals.

Regionals tee off next Monday, May 18th, and the Rebels will be heading to Bermuda Run in North Carolina as they look for their second straight regionals win.

Ahead of their trip, some of the members of the team spoke with the media on Monday morning about the upcoming challenge in front of them.

Each player discussed how similar the playing surfaces are between the Ole Miss complex and Bermuda Run, and how helpful that will be. Here’s what each member had to say about drawing the North Carolina course.

Senior Cohen Trolio: 

“I’ve actually never played it, but I’m super excited to go. I heard it was obviously Bermuda Grass, and then we’re gonna see some of the same conditions that we have here, just with the Bermuda coming out of dormancy, so it’s not fully there. I think it’s a good… good place to land solely because of the grass, and the condition of the golf course is going to be similar to what we see on a daily basis.” 

Junior Collins Trolio

“It’s almost perfect for us. Pretty much all of us grew up on Bermuda Grass, and then, obviously, we played Bermuda Grass here, so that’s what we’re on almost 100% of the time when we’re not playing in tournaments, so you know exactly what to expect.”

Freshman Jacob Blanton

“I think Bermuda runs a lot. It’s very close to what we see every day around here. Bermuda grass and, kind of short golf course. So I think it’s something that we’re very used to, and I think that’s something that we can jump on top of and kind of get after it. But, you know, I think some of those other teams definitely can too. So we got to show up, and we got to have our stuff, but I think we have a good chance, I think we’ll play well.” 

Senior Tom Fischer

“Yeah, I think going to Bermuda is a great spot for regionals. I don’t think any of us have played it. The women’s team played regional there two years ago, so they’ve told us a little bit about it. But I think just staying on the grass we have here is super valuable and gives us good preparation when we’re here, playing each and every day to go there and still be comfortable in that type of golf course.”

Fischer, the junior from Alabama, expanded on what he has learned so far from the women’s team in preparation.

“They’ve kind of just told us that it’s good preparation out here of what we have, and so, kind of just diving into that and trusting what we’re doing each and every day here. Trust that that’s gonna prepare us, prepare us for Bermuda.” Fischer said.

An experienced group

This team is experienced, with a handful of members returning from last year’s group that moved past the regional round, and this allows head coach Chris Malloy to have trust in his players.

Each of the following players talked to us Monday about what Malloy’s trust means.

“We have an old team right now,” Cohen Trolio began. “So I think that he leaves a lot of the decisions up to us. If there’s something weird out there, and obviously there’s a lot of groups and he’s seen it, then he’ll come let us know, but for the most part, he just lets us do our deal,” Cohen explained. 

Cohen Trolio

Collins Trolio weighed in on his coach, also. “It’s great, but it does take time, you know, he’s got to figure out how the group operates throughout the year, and I think that’s the important things about the fall and early spring, and now, he obviously knows that we can win and all play our own games and roll with it and that’s what we’re gonna do,” he explained. 

Fischer also talked about the relationship with the head coach.

Tom Fischer on Coach Malloy

Up Next

The regional round is right around the corner, running May 18-20, as Ole Miss looks to begin what they hope is another memorable run that adds another trophy to the cabinet back in Oxford.