The Unofficial Furman Football Page

Furman senior Natalie Srinivasan has been named the 2020 Division I PING WGCA National Player of the Year, as announced today by the organization.

A native of Spartanburg, S.C., Srinivasan, who earlier this week became the seventh first team All-American selection in the history of the Paladin program and the first since 1998, finished the 2019-20 season as the top-ranked active collegiate women's golfer, according to the most recent Golfstat ratings.

A member of Phi Beta Kappa, Srinivasan holds a 3.87 GPA in health sciences and will turn pro after graduating in May. She was the recipient of the Winston Babb Memorial Award, which is given to the woman in each class who has demonstrated the most outstanding qualities of leadership, scholarship, and service to the university.

Recognized annually as the nation's top honor in women's collegiate golf, the PING WGCA Player of the Year Award is awarded to the best player in Division I, II, III and NAIA women's golf. Srinivasan is the fifth Furman student-athlete to garner national player of the year honors, joining Frank Selvy (1954/Baskeball), Brad Faxon (1982/Golf), Jeff Blankenship (1988/Football), and Louis Ivory (2000/Football).

Absolute shame she didn't get to finish out her year. Best shot the Paladins have had at a national team title or an individual title in years in golf.

Individual title yes. Team title probably not. I think the 2018 Lady Paladins that finished 11th at the NCAA's were better than this year's team. But I agree with you that it is a shame that we will never find out.

P.S. I was on the men's team in '76 and we won the SoCon that year and we thought we were good. The women's team, who had no scholarship money and no travel budget, won the National Championship. That team had 4 future LPGA Tour players who won 70 tour events, including 8 major championships, and have two members in the LPGA Hall of Fame. All six players were a class act, too.

FurmAlum wrote: ↑

Tue Apr 28, 2020 10:07 pm

P.S. I was on the men's team in '76 and we won the SoCon that year and we thought we were good. The women's team, who had no scholarship money and no travel budget, won the National Championship. That team had 4 future LPGA Tour players who won 70 tour events, including 8 major championships, and have two members in the LPGA Hall of Fame. All six players were a class act, too.

From a 2008 SoCon writeup honoring the 1976 AIAW National Championship Furman women's golf team:
The 1976 Paladins defeated the Tulsa Golden Hurricanes and their standout freshman Nancy Lopez by one stroke when (Beth) Daniel buried a short par putt on the final hole at the Forest Akers West Course in East Lansing, Mich. The victory helped lay the groundwork for a Paladin program that has reached 16 NCAA Championships, claimed 12 Southern Conference titles and produced numerous professionals over the past 32 years.

Daniel, (Cindy) Ferro, (Betsy) King and (Sherri) Turner continued their golf careers on the LPGA Tour after leaving Furman and combined for 70 wins and eight major championships. Daniel and King, two of the most recognized players in the history of women’s professional golf, are both members of the LPGA Hall of Fame.

The remaining two of the six noted by FurmAlum, Leigh Coulter and Holly Hunt, are mentioned in the article as well. https://soconsports.com/news/2008/9/19/1585564.aspx

Srinivasan also wins ANNIKA Award. AWESOME!