TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The Alabama women's golf team begins the season as the nation's No. 2 team in the preseason Women's Golf Coaches Association Top 25, the organization announced Tuesday afternoon.

Alabama received 12 first-place votes and 520 total points to rank second, one point behind top-ranked UCLA, which tallied nine first place votes. Arkansas was third with 502 points, followed by Stanford (467) and Duke (432) in fourth and fifth, respectively.

Four other SEC schools appear in the preseason poll – No. 9 South Carolina, No. 12 Florida, No. 21 Auburn and No. 25 Vanderbilt. Two additional SEC schools – Georgia and Ole Miss – also received votes in the preseason poll.

Alabama will open the 2018-19 season at the ANNIKA Intercollegiate, Sept. 17-19, at the Royal Golf Club in Lake Elmo, Minn.

Get all the latest information on the Alabama women's golf team by following @AlabamaWGolf on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. General athletic news can also be found at UA_Athletics on Twitter and Instagram and AlabamaAthletics on Facebook.