HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. - Freshman Haylee Harford (+2) carded a 74 to tie for 31st place to lead the 27th-ranked Furman women’s golf team in the opening day of the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate at the par-71, 6,243-yard Long Cove Club. The Paladins are tied for 13th as a team.

Harford, a native of Leavittsburg, Ohio, birdied No. 7 for an even front nine to finish the round seven strokes back of leaders Cheyenne Knight (-4) of Alabama, Alexandra Farnsworth (-4) of Vanderbilt and Lauren Coughlin (-4) of Virginia, who each shot a 67 to open the tournament.

Junior Taylor Totland (+5) and sophomore Alice Chen (+5) are tied for 50th entering Saturday’s second round after scoring 76s on Friday. The Paladin duo each notched a team-high three birdies in first-round play. Senior Valentina Romero (+6) is tied for 57 after birdieing No. 2 and carding a 77 in Friday’s round, while sophomore Reona Hirai (+7) is tied for 68th with an opening-round 78.

No. 4 Alabama (-6) leads the field by three strokes after firing an opening-round 278. Eleven of the 17 teams competing at the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate qualified for the 2015 NCAA Championships, and eight schools in the field have won a tournament this season.

Second-round play of the 54-hole tournament, which features seven teams ranked in the top 25 in the latest Golfstat poll, including each of the country’s top five programs, begins Saturday at 8:30 a.m. The tournament will conclude on Sunday.

The Paladins tee off of No. 10 at 9:20 a.m. on Saturday.