Alice Chen shot a 3-under par 69 to share the first round lead at the SoCon Women’s Championship.

The 10th ranked Furman Lady Paladins shot an 8-under par opening round to hold a 20 shot lead over the field at the SoCon Women’s championship being played at The Country Club of Lexington.

Furman golfers Alice Chen and Natalie Srinivasan are tied with Loy Hee Ying of East Tennessee State for the individual lead. The three golfers all shot rounds of 3-under par 69.

The Lady Paladins will be trying to win their 16th SoCon tournament championship. The winner of the SoCon tournament receives the conferences automatic bid to play in the NCAA tournament.

Furman freshman Natalie Srinivasan is tied for the lead. As a High School senior at Dorman she won the state AAAA high school championship on the same course.

The Lady Paladins entire team played well. All five of the Furman golfers finished the first round in the top-14.

Freshman Carly Burkhardt is alone in fourth place after shooting a 2-under par 70. Senior Taylor Totland is fifth at even par. Haylee Harford is tied for 14th place after shooting a 4-over par round.

Srinivasan, a freshman from Spartanburg, has done well on the Lexington course in the past. As a Dorman High School senior she won the AAAA High School girls title at the club in 2015.

Freshman Carly Burkhardt is in fourth place after shooting a 2-under par 70.

The second round is scheduled to begin at 8:30am and is open to the public, free of charge.

Live scoring can be seen at http://www.birdiefire.com