Oxford's Brett Patterson takes early lead at Mississippi Amateur

Brett Patterson of Oxford gave Lafayette County golf a headline start by posting the only under-par score in the opening round of the Mississippi Amateur, taking an early lead at Annandale Golf Club in Madison.

The 2026 Mississippi Amateur, presented by MS Sports Medicine, is scheduled for June 4-7, and Patterson’s first-round performance quickly separated him from the field at one of the Mississippi Golf Association’s premier championships. When a player from Oxford is the only golfer under par in round one, it turns a state tournament into a local story for anyone tracking Ole Miss and Oxford sports.

Patterson’s position on top of the leaderboard is not a surprise to anyone who has followed Mississippi amateur golf. He won the 2024 Mississippi Mid-Amateur at The Refuge in Flowood, where he went wire-to-wire, finished at 15-under par and beat the field by three shots. The MGA said Patterson teaches at Ole Miss, and that title run was especially notable because he had not played an 18-hole round in nearly a month before opening with a bogey-free 65.

That combination of experience and restraint has made Patterson one of the most recognizable names in the state’s amateur ranks. The Mississippi Golf Association, founded in 1925, continues to stage championship events across Mississippi, and its championship archive includes Patterson among its recent men’s champions, reinforcing how often he has shown up in the biggest state events.

For Oxford readers, Patterson’s fast start matters because it signals more than a good round. It shows that a local player with a proven track record is once again in position to contend at a championship that draws some of the strongest amateur talent in Mississippi. Whether he can hold that pace through the rest of the tournament at Annandale will determine if this becomes another wire-to-wire run or just the first step in a longer chase.