Bio

Began: 1992 | Season: 2023-24 is his 32nd season

 Head Coach Tony Wallingford begins his 32nd season at the helm of Milligan Golf. Wallingford’s men’s teams have captured seven Appalachian Athletic Conference Championships, two NAIA Regional titles, and made two NAIA National Championship appearances. The Buffs have finished in the top two spots in the AAC 12 times.

The Buffs’ 2022-23 team set program records for low tournament round and low 36-hole tournament score as the Buffs finished 16 strokes under for the tournament with a low round of 277 (-11). Ty Beasley tied for second place at nine-under (135), the second-lowest 36-hole total in program history.

In 2021-22, Milligan men’s golf finished No. 34 in the final Golfstat Team Rankings. The Buffs capped their season with a runner-up finish at the NAIA Direct Qualifier/AAC Spring Championship, ahead of No. 19 Tennessee Wesleyan and No. 10 Point. It was Milligan’s highest finish at the NAIA Direct Qualifier since 2013. Milligan posted top-three finishes in eight of 11 tournaments and won the Nick England Memorial, Mountain Empire Intercollegiate and took first in the preseason Bob Dibble Match Play Championship at Tusculum.

Wallingford led his 2013 Buffs team to conference and regional titles and placed 14th at the NAIA National Championship in Salem, Oregon. While at the national tourney, Milligan became the first team in conference history to make the 54-hole cut and play in the final round. The 2013 Buffs also had the program’s highest final national coaches poll ranking at No. 24. His 2014 championship team smashed the school record for 18-hole and 36-hole scoring with a 279 (-9) and a 282 (-6) for a two-day total of 561 (-15) at the fall conference championship. Wallingford has consistently had the Buffs ranked among Golfstat’s top 50 programs.

Wallingford has been named AAC Men’s Coach of the Year four times and was twice tabbed the NAIA Regional Coach of the Year. He has recruited and coached four NAIA National Championship individual qualifiers. His men’s team has achieved national scholar team recognition seven times, and he has coached 17 academic All-Americans. The 2009 Buffs squad was selected as the AAC Champions of Character Team.

Wallingford resurrected the men’s golf program in 1992, and led the program as a non-scholarship sport until 1996. In the fall of ’96, Wallingford moved the program to intercollegiate status.

In 2010, Wallingford initiated the women’s program. In the first 13 years of competition, the Buffs have won 34 tournaments, captured six AAC regular season titles, six AAC Direct Qualifier wins and eight NAIA National Championship appearances. In 12 of the 13 years of the program, the women’s team has been ranked in Golfstat’s top 50.

Milligan won the NAIA Direct Qualifier and AAC Championship in 2022-23 to qualify for the NAIA National Championship for the eighth time. The Buffs finished ninth at the NAIA National Championship, the top finish in program history. Kate Castle finished seventh at the NAIA National Championship to earn all-tournament honors. Castle was named an NAIA Second Team All-American and the AAC Player of the Year. Castle set Milligan’s single-round (-3, 69) and 36-hole (-1, 143) tournament records during the season. The Buffs set program records for team single-round (294) and 36-hole (603) score.

This past season, Milligan spent the entire season ranked inside the NAIA’s Top 25 rankings and finished 16th at the 2022 NAIA Women’s Golf National Championship. Alayna Perryman became Milligan’s first-ever multi-year women’s golf All-American as she repeated as an NAIA Second Team All-American.

2020-21 proved to be a historic season with the Buffs sweeping the AAC Fall Championship, AAC Spring Championship and AAC Direct Qualifier. Milligan posted its top team finish at the NAIA National Championship with a 10th-place showing at the Rose Creek Golf Course in Oklahoma City. Alayna Perryman and Michaela Lindahl each collected All-American honors from the NAIA and the WGCA. Perryman was the AAC Player of Year and finished 26th in the final Golfstat player rankings. Lindahl finished the year ranked 25th nationally by Golfstat.

He led his 2020 Buffs to a No. 24 national ranking and a No. 1 ranking in the AAC prior to the spring season coming to a halt due to the coronavirus pandemic. Wallingford’s 2018 Buffs team achieved another record breaking season as they won their fourth AAC regular season championship and qualified for the NAIA National Tournament at PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. They finished No. 21 nationally in the NAIA Final Coaches Poll, after finishing No. 16 in 2017 and No. 12 in 2016.

Wallingford has been named the AAC Women’s Coach of the Year six times. He has recruited 17 different players that have earned all-conference honors. Twice, 2011 and 2012, the women were selected as the AAC Champions of Character recipient. In all 13 years of the program, his Milligan women’s teams have received national scholar team recognition (team GPA over 3.0)

Wallingford is a level III certified golf instructor through the United States Golf Teachers Federation (USGTF) and has attended advanced training sessions at TPC Myrtle Beach. Wallingford also teaches two golf classes at Milligan. Wallingford remains active in the rules of golf and has successfully completed multiple PGA-USGA rules of golf workshops and exams.

In addition to his golf accomplishments, Coach Wallingford is the all-time winningest men’s basketball coach in Milligan history. His Milligan teams won an impressive nine conference and regional championships and made three national tournament appearances. He was an AAC Coach of the Year four times. He left the basketball coaching profession in 2009 ranked 14th nationally among NAIA active coaches in wins with 560 wins in 26 years as a collegiate head coach (21.5 wins per season).

Wallingford is a 1979 graduate of Washington & Jefferson College (PA) and earned his Master’s Degree (Education, Secondary School Administration) in 1981 from The University of Akron (OH). While at W&J, Wallingford earned eight varsity letters as a two-sport athlete in basketball and baseball. Wallingford is a member of the Carter County (TN) Sports Hall of Fame and the Goshen High School (OH) Hall of Fame.

Coach Wallingford and his wife Terry have been married for 42 years and have three children, Sara (Milligan, ’04), Don (Milligan, ’05) and Seth (Carson-Newman, ’11). The Wallingford’s reside in Johnson City. Coach Wallingford and his wife Terry teach 3rd-4th and 5th-6th grade Sunday School classes and are active members of Poplar Ridge Christian Church in Piney Flats, Tennessee.