GREENVILLE, S.C. – The Furman women’s golf team moved up two spots and is ranked second nationally, according to this week’s Golfstat collegiate rankings.

The Paladins, who placed 20th at the 2016 NCAA Championships after claiming their second straight SoCon Championship last season, opened the 2016-17 season in mid-September with a team victory at the Minnesota Invitational. Sophomore Haylee Harford, the 2016 SoCon Freshman of the Year, tied for individual medalist honors to lead the Paladins.

Later in September, Furman returned home and entertained 19 teams at the Lady Paladin Invitational, where Furman recorded a second-place team finish. The Paladins, who were led by junior Alice Chen, the 2016 SoCon Co-Player of the Year, recorded a three-day total of 855, breaking the previous tournament record by five strokes. Chen was runner-up among the individuals at the tournament.

Most recently, Furman placed four players among the top 13 to finish second at the Cougar Classic in Hanahan, S.C. The Paladins, who recorded 57 birdies and four eagles, fired a 278, the best round in program history, to open the tournament. Harford paced the team with a fourth-place finish, while freshman Natalie Srinivasan tied for eighth. Senior Taylor Totland, who tied for 20th among the individuals at last season’s national championships, tied for 13th, along with freshman Carly Burkhardt.

Furman will conclude the 2016 fall season this weekend at the Landfall Tradition in Wilmington, N.C. That field will also include No. 1 Alabama.

Complete rankings can be found at http://www.golfstat.com/2016-2017/rankhth.cfm.

Golfstat Rankings
1 Alabama
2 Furman
3 Stanford
4 Southern California
5 Florida State
6 UCLA
7 Georgia
8 Florida
9 Kent State
10 Miami
11 Arkansas
12 Purdue
13 Wake Forest
14 Texas
15 Arizona State
16 North Carolina
17 UCF
18 Northwestern
19 South Carolina
20 Oklahoma State
21 Texas A&M
22 Tennessee
23 Duke
24 Oklahoma
25 Arizona