Golfers Down Tufts, Amherst; McConnell, Barry Lead Team

The Harvard golf team responded to yesterday's good weather by putting together its top performance of the year, a convincing victory over Tufts and Amherst.

While Amherst was not expected to provide much competition, Tufts is a perennial power in the Boston metropolitan area. The Crimson's top five men all turned in sub-80 scores, as Harvard routed Tufts 381 to 408. Amherst trailed well behind the local squads at 420.

Steve McConnell, the top golfer on last year's freshman team, led the Crimson with a 74, his best effort of the year. Captain Skip Barry carded a 75 to finish second for the Crimson.

Art Burke at 76, Quinn Smith at 77 and Tom Yellin at 79 rounded out the Crimson's top five. Returning lettermen John Stoviak and Bill Falatich had off days and finished at 82 and 83, respectively.

Playing under perfect conditions at the Concord Country Club, Harvard's home course, the Crimson improved vastly over its previous performances--losses to Penn State and Navy and a lackluster victory over Cornell.

Harvard Scores

"We played like we should have been all season long," McConnell said yesterday. "We can usually win in the Ivy League with five scores under 80," he added.

The Crimson will have to play at top form Thursday against Penn and Columbia if it hopes to improve its 3-2 record. The contest with the Quakers and Lions should be Harvard's biggest Ivy League match of the season.

Columbia is always strong, but Penn, which sports four former state champions, has to rate as the favorite. A win Thursday would place Harvard in strong contention for the Ivy golf championship.

Yesterday's victory establishes Harvard as a strong favorite in the upcoming Greater Boston Collegiate Championships. Tufts and Boston College usually provide the Crimson with its strongest competition, but Tufts faired poorly yesterday and B.C. has been floundering around the 400 level all season long.

However, the Crimson must avoid the inconsistent play which crippled last year's linksmen if it hopes to come up with any titles this year.