Alexander Leads Golfers To Greater Boston Title

The Harvard golf team hacked its way to a first-place finish in yesterday's Greater Boston Championships, playing less than its best amid arctic conditions and strong winds on the Concord Country Club course.

"It was lucky for us to win, since no one really played that well," junior Carroll Lowenstein, who tied for third in the match with 80-89 scores, said afterwards. "The conditions weren't the best," he added, citing the frozen-over tee he encountered on the first round as evidence.

Harvard totaled 868 over 36 holes to beat Northeastern by a convincing 24 strokes. Boston College followed close on the Huskies' heels, finishing just three strokes behind.

Co-captain Glenn Alexander paced the Crimson with 78-84, the lowest combined score in the match. The win boosts the team's record from 4-2 to 8-2.

Bad Times

"We played pitifully," sophomore Jon Mosle lamented after compiling 81-84 for the second-best score of the match. Mosle blamed the team's performance on both the conditions and the course. "The first five holes were really hard, so you got discouraged early," he said, adding that the presence of many trees created greater hazards for the golfers.

The unfamiliarity of the course may have contributed to some of the high scores. "It was the first time a lot of the players had seen the course." Larry Stein, who shot the Crimson's fifth-best score, observed.

However, tradition prevailed and Harvard retained the GBC crown which it has held for the past three years.

More to Come

The linksters next face Holy Cross and Williams Thursday on the Pleasant Valley course. The match is their last warmup before the Ivy League tournament this weekend, hosted by Princeton.

The Tigers should prove the biggest threat to Crimson hopes for an Ivy League championship. Enjoying the benefits of a springtime that arrives earlier in central New Jersey than subpolar Cambridge. Princeton annually logs more practice time than most of its league rivals. Harvard will try to improve on its dismal seventh place finish in the 1980 tournament.

THE NOTEBOOK: Harvard lost to Princeton but beat Yale last Tuesday on the Country Club course in Brookline... The team expected to emerge victorious in the time-honored rivalry since it had the home-course advantage, but the match was cut short after only nine holes because of pouring rain and freezing temperatures... "We might have had a chance to win if we had played the full 18." Lowenstein commented later.