Palos Verdes, Calif. - The Furman women's golf team began the spring portion of its 2010-11 schedule by carding an opening round 311 to grab eighth place at the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge Tournament at the par-71 Palos Verdes Golf Club in Palos Verdes, Calif., on Monday.

Senior Stefanie Kenoyer, a two-time Southern Conference Player of the Year selection, paced the Paladins during the opening round of the spring with a four-over 75 to hold a share of 17th place in a 13-team field that includes nine of the top-40 teams in the nation.

No. 3 Southern California fired a first round 290 to grab a five-stroke lead over second place Pepperdine and six-stroke advantage on second-ranked and third place UCLA.  The Bruins' Tiffany Lua and Ohio State's Amy Meier share the individual lead after 18 holes with each firing a one-under 70.

Furman's Jackie Hilea, who missed most of the fall with an injury, posted a first round 78 to share 31st place after 18 holes of the 54-hole tournament.  The highlight of the day for Furman was a hole-in-one at the 173-yard, par-three No. 2 by Paladin freshman Aubrie Street.

The Paladins, playing with Ohio State and Wake Forest, are scheduled to tee-off at 1 p.m. ET on Tuesday.  Final round action is slated for Wednesday.

8       Furman          311

T17     Stefanie Kenoyer        75

T31     Jackie Hilea            78

T37     Alexa Rancourt  79

T37     Laura Wearn             79

T66     Aubrie Street           84