GREENVILLE, S.C. -- The Furman women's golf team will compete at the prestigious ANNIKA Intercollegiate Presented by 3M beginning Sunday at the par 72, 6,288 yard Olympic Hills Golf Club in Minneapolis, Minn.  The tournament, which features 12 of the top Division I women's programs in the country,  is co-founded by Annika Sorenstam's ANNIKA Foundation and Golfweek.

The 54-hole tournament will begin at 9 a.m. on Sunday with teams going off of No. 1 and No. 10.  The tournament will continue on Monday and Tuesday, starting at 9 a.m. each day.  In addition, a gala reception will take place on Saturday night before the event during which Annika will give the ANNIKA Award Presented by 3M to the nation's best female collegiate player.

"This event offers a fantastic platform to expand my Foundation's mission to establish greater playing opportunities for junior and college golfers alike," said Annika, the 1991 NCAA Champion and co-player of the year. "It's great to see many of the girls who played in our ANNIKA Invitational junior series return to play with their college teams. We're excited to work with Golfweek to make the ANNIKA Intercollegiate a 'can't miss' kick-off to the NCAA golf season."

Furman, which concluded the 2016-17 season ranked seventh in the final Golfweek poll, will be joined in the field by Stanford, the top-ranked team at the end of last season, fourth-ranked USC, No. 5 UCLA, ninth-ranked Georgia, No. 11 Florida State, No. 12 South Carolina, 13th-ranked Baylor, No. 15 Arkansas, No. 17 Miami, 18th-ranked Texas, and Minnesota.  All rankings are based upon last year's final poll.

The Paladin lineup for the ANNIKA Intercollegiate includes seniors Jacqueline Bendrick, Alice Chen and Reona Hirai, junior Haylee Harford, and sophomore Natalie Srinivasan.  

"The ANNIKA has become one of the premier women's college events in the country, usually with a very strong field," said Paladin head coach Jeff Hull.  "This year is no exception, and we are honored to have been invited.  Coming off a win at our home event, the team is playing well and ready to compete.  This is truly a strong test for all teams early in the season."

Admission to the tournament is free and fans are welcome.  Live tournament scoring will also be available via www.golfstat.com.

Julie Paré, Furman Sports Information