WILSON, N.C. (March 14, 2017) – The Franklin Pierce University men's golf team opened the second half of their campaign with a spring break trip to the Barton College Intercollegiate that took place at the Wilson Country Club in Wilson, N.C.

Franklin Pierce placed seventh overall with a three round total of 948 (+84). Host Barton remained in first and took the intercollegiate title with a score of 903 which was 39 strokes over par. Northeast-10 Conference opponent Southern New Hampshire University finished in second at 916 (+52) and McDaniel College rallied past Mount Olive on day two to take third third prize at 926 (+62).

Individually for the Ravens, freshman Keeton Foster (Chesterfield, N.H.) who golfed out of the second spot in the rotation, was the only Raven golfer who placed within the top-10 as he finished tied for seventh at 227 (+11). Foster improved his standing after the first round by firing a 73 (+1) and a 76 (+4) during rounds two and three.

Day One – Monday

The Ravens returned to the course after a five month hiatus and battled tough conditions such as cold temperatures, rain and wind which led to a seventh place (326, +38) finish after day one. Host Barton College (299, +11) stood alone in first place and they are followed by Southern New Hampshire University (305, +17) and The University of Mount Olive (308, +20) to round out the top three.

Foster led all Raven golfers with a 78 (+6), good enough for a tie for 17th place individually. Team captain Tom Arisco (Cheshire, Conn.) (79, +7), junior Taylor Simpson (Londonderry, N.H) (84, +12) and senior Ben French (Newton, N.H) all rank within the Intercollegiate top-50 while Sam Myers (Colchester, Vt.) struck an 87 (+15) after the first day of golf.

Day Two – Tuesday

The second round was called late Monday night and concluded early Tuesday morning with the third and final round coming to an end before 5:00 p.m. Tuesday. As a team, FPU bested their day one input by rifling a 311 (+23) in the second round and later matching the round two score in their final 18 of the day.

Myers was by far the most improved Raven golfer on day two as he shrugged off a team-high 87 (+15) to golf a 77 (+5) and 74 (+1) from the one spot. Myers also bettered his place in the individual standings by 25 spots for a tie of 28th place. The other team captain Ben French dropped strokes off his day one 85 (+12) to golf an 83 (+11) and 82 (+10) in the final round.  

The men's squad will be off the course for about a month before they return to action on April 9th for the Dr. Edwin Cottrell Invitational at the Penn Oaks Gold Club.

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 athletic apparel can do so at the Department of Athletics' online store (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu/store).