After a rainy start to July in New England, mother nature turned off the faucet July 17 for the 2023 Rocky Raven Golf Classic. Temperatures soared into the upper 80s and humidity came out to play at Northern Spy Golf Club, but so did more than 120 golfers.

Players poured in around 8:30 a.m., registering and swiftly moving down the line to a table decked with raffle prizes. More than 20 jars sat in front of the donated items, ranging from Franklin Pierce University items to tickets to see the New England Revolution play at Gillette Stadium.

At 9:10 a.m., Franklin Pierce University President Kim Mooney, head golf coach Tyler Bishop and a course official addressed the 31 teams. The first message was to keep the golf carts on the path as the weeks of rain had softened up the grounds. The second message was a thank you to the participants and sponsors then direct orders from Mooney to have fun.

The club house became a popular pit stop during the tournament, not only to grab a bite to eat and refreshments, but also to take part in the “Monster Putt Challenge.” Bishop picked the placement, a 40-footer spanning from one side of the practice green to the other.

Franklin Pierce head volleyball coach Eric Roderick and Assistant Director of Athletic Communications David Tuttle ran the event. Their job was to take down names of whoever hit the putt and enter it into a 50/50 raffle for a cash prize. Group after group passed through, and not a single person had their name taken down. After hours of golfers reading the putt and missing, Bryce Salo stepped out of his cart and took on the challenge.

At $5 dollars per put, Salo bought four. He missed his first three puts, and his fourth shot was both his last and the final shot of the day. He sank it. Four putts worth $20 helped him walk away with $375 in his pocket.

After about five hours of drives, chips, and putts, golfers filed into the clubhouse and score cards were counted.

The first award was handed out to the golfers who unleashed the longest drives. The competition took place on the 400-yard second hole. For the women’s category, Christine Guerard brought home the gold, and on the men’s side, Shaun Millerick took home the top prize.

Next came the closest-to-the-pin on hole 15. From the red tees 120 yards away, Linda Harris hit a shot that landed 2-feet, 2-inches from a hole-in-one. Then from the silver tees 122 yards away, Greg Walsh hit a shot landing 4-feet, 8-inches from the pin.

The final announcement was for the top three teams of the day which came down to the wire. The third-place team was made up of Lars Traffie, Zach Traffie, Will Hackler, and Keegan Hackler, who shot a 29-28—57.

The first-place winner was where things got tricky. The teams of William Durig, Jim Corbin, William Heffernan and Tom Johnston and Kayla Schuberth, Lorelai Flanagan and Alexis St.Laurent each shot 55. After matching cards to determine the lowest score on the hardest hole, Schuberth, Flanagan and St. Laurent were declared the winners.