GREENVILLE, S.C. -- The Furman women's golf team is ranked eighth nationally according to the season's first Golfweek collegiate rankings, which was released today by the publication.
The Paladins, who notched a 12th-place finish at the 2017 NCAA Championships after claiming their third-straight SoCon Championship last season, opened the 2017-18 season in mid-September with a team victory at the Lady Paladin Invitational. Junior Haylee Harford, who earned All-American citations from the WGCA and Golfweek last season, finished second to lead the Paladins, while senior Alice Chen tied for fourth.
Later in September, Furman competed at the prestigious ANNIKA Intercollegiate in Eden Prairie, Minn. The Paladins, who set a new program record with a second-round 277, tied for fourth in one of the strongest fields in the country, and sophomore Natalie Srinivasan, the 2017 SoCon Freshman of the Year, tied for third among individuals.
Most recently, the Paladins finished second at the Betsy Rawls Invitational, beating out Arizona State, the defending NCAA Champion. Furman moved up six spots on the leader board in the final day of play after posting the low round of the day by nine strokes. Harford finished third, followed by Srinivasan in fourth, and senior Reona Hirai tied for 24th.
"I am very proud of our No. 8 ranking," said Furman head coach Jeff Hull. "Although it means nothing at this point in the season, it shows how well we have played so far against some very strong competition. We need to finish the fall strong at the Landfall Tradition and see if we can move up a little more, as there will be several ranked teams at the tournament."
Furman will compete at the Landfall Tradition in Wilmington, N.C., October 28-30.
Julie Paré, Furman Sports Information
Complete rankings can be found at http://www.golfstat.com/2017-2018/rankhth.cfm
October 17 Golfweek Rankings
1 Alabama
2 UCLA
3 Arkansas
4 Arizona State
5 Duke
6 Oklahoma State
7 Stanford
8 Furman
9 South Carolina
10 Northwestern
11 Colorado
12 Southern California
13 Texas
14 Florida
15 Illinois
16 Kent State
17 Michigan State
18 Iowa State
19 Florida State
20 Purdue
21 Wake Forest
22 Notre Dame
23 North Carolina
24 Denver
25 North Carolina State