Furman Set To Host 36th Annual Lady Paladin Invitational

Oct. 4, 2006

Greenville, S.C. - The Furman women's golf team will host the 36th annual Lady Paladin Invitational at the Furman University Golf Course this Friday through Sunday, October 6-8.

A total of 17 teams will vie for the Lady Paladin team and individual titles beginning at 8:30 a.m. on Friday and Saturday and at 9 a.m. on Sunday. Furman will seek to defend the team title, which it won last year by five strokes over the Mississippi State Bulldogs.

USF junior Christina Jones returns to defend her individual crown after totaling a two-over 218 in last year's three-round event. Jones joins Furman's Monique Gesualdi to give the tournament two former medalists in the 2006 field.

Eleven teams ranked in the Golfweek/Sagarin top 100 will be on hand, including Northwestern (17th), TCU (31st), Furman (33rd), Augusta State (35th) and Memphis (47th).

Past winners of the Lady Paladin Invitational (6,103 yards, par 72), which began in 1972 as the Carolinas Collegiate, include Betsy King, Nancy Lopez, Dottie Pepper, Donna Andrews, Angela Stanford, and Meredith Duncan. Furman has won the team title a tournament-record 14 times, while Georgia has taken honors on five occasions. Duke has three Lady Paladin titles to the program's credit, while Tulsa, Wake Forest and Auburn have each won the tournament twice.

2006 Field (17 teams): Augusta State, Coastal Carolina, East Tennessee State, Florida International, Furman, Kennesaw State, Memphis, Minnesota, Mississippi, Mississippi State, UNC Greensboro, UNC Wilmington, Northwestern, South Florida, TCU, Winthrop, Wofford.