GREENVILLE, S.C. – The Furman women's golf team is ranked seventh nationally according to the Golfstat final poll, as released Thursday by the organization.

The Paladins, who placed 12th earlier this week at the 2017 NCAA Championship, secured the Southern Conference's automatic bid to an NCAA Regional by capturing their 16th SoCon Championship last month at the Country Club of Lexington in Lexington, S.C. Furman went on to finish second at the NCAA Lubbock Regional to earn a berth at the NCAA Championship.

Furman was led by sophomore Haylee Harford, a second team All-American, who posted a 72.3 stroke average over 35 rounds this season, the best single-season stroke average ever for a Paladin women's golfer. Harford tied for eighth at the NCAA Championship after tying for fifth at the NCAA regionals with freshman Natalie Srinivasan, the 2017 SoCon Freshman of the Year, who won individual medalist honors at the SoCon Championship.

“It is great to finish the year ranked seventh in the country,” said Furman head coach Jeff Hull, who was chosen the 2017 SoCon Coach of the Year. “We would have liked to finish better at the NCAA Championship, but a 12th-place finish and a high ranking is a nice consolation prize. The rankings reflect the entire year's performance, so I am very proud of the efforts of everyone on the team to make this happen.”