WILSON, N.C. (March 17, 2015) – The Franklin Pierce University Ravens Men's Golf team returned to the links for the first time on Monday and Tuesday since their appearance in the NEIGA Fall Championship in October. The beginning of the new spring season brought a little tough spots, along with some rust as the Ravens could only wager a seventh place finish at the 40^th annual Barton Intercollegiate Tournament. The tournament was hosted by Barton College at Wilson Country Club in Wilson, North Carolina.

The top finishing Raven came in the form of junior Brad Auclair (Cumberland, R.I.) who led the second day push with a team-best 76, while adding an 81 on Monday for a two-day total of 157. He had the best finish out of any Raven by finishing in 26^th overall.

However, the Ravens found junior Nick Adjutant (Rochester, N.H.) toward the top of the leaderboard after day one, as he shot a team-best 79 on Monday. That put him tied for 17^th going into Tuesday, putting him in a good position to finish in the top 20. Unfortunately, he wouldn't be able to use the same strong second day to move up, as instead he would shoot an 82 for a total 161 and finishing in a tie for 29^th.

Franklin Pierce would also get two other scores in the 70's on Tuesday's round would be from Will Pennington (Heswall, England) and Chris Pasto (Newton, N.H.). Pennington would recover from an 86 round on Monday to shoot a 76 on Tuesday, finishing with a 162, while Pasto also improved by 10 strokes, going from an 87 round on Monday to a 77 round on Tuesday. Pennington would finish tied for 32^nd while Pasto tied for 37^th with their scores, respectively.

Rounding out the Ravens participation for the tournament came in the form of freshman Hunter Byram (Coventry, Conn.) who took home rounds of 83 and 87 for a total of 170 over the two days to finish tied for 43^rd.

Belmont Abbey College would win the tournament with a two-day total of 592. The Barton College "A" team would be the runners-up only six strokes back with a 598. Taking home the individual first place medal would be Tyler Satorius of Belmont Abbey, while his teammate Nick Stafford would finish second. Satorius would use scores of 72 and 70 over the two days to take the top spot, while Stafford shot a 73 and 74 to bring home the silver.

The Ravens will return to the link on Friday and Saturday, April 3 and 4 when they travel to Dowling. They will be competing at the Tall Grass Country Club in Shoreham, N.Y.

For more information on Franklin Pierce Athletics, please visit the official website of Franklin Pierce Athletics (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu). Also be sure to follow the Ravens through the Department of Athletics' official Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/FranklinPierceRavens), its YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/franklinpiercesports) and its Twitter feed (http://twitter.com/FPUathletics). Fans wishing to purchase Franklin Pierce golf apparel can do so at the Department of Athletics' brand new online store (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu/store).