Linksters Slide to Third In League Championship

They descended upon Princeton, N.J., hoping to tame the local beasts. But the Harvard golf team encountered fierce competition from both the Tigers and rival Dartmouth, and wound up in third place in last weekend's Ivy League Championships.

Early in the tournament, the Crimson posed a serious threat to the perennial Princeton possession of the Ivy title. But after tying the Tigers for the lead in Saturday's first round, Harvard's control fell off slightly in the second and, as co-catain Chip Raffi said later. "Princeton just ran away with it."

Harvard rallied in the third round, played on Sunday, but by then it was too late to stop the orange-and-black stampede.

However, the results were definitely an improvement over last year's seventh place. Coach Dick Crosby predicted at least a third-place finish for the linksters last week, saying, "If these men play the way they can play--there's no question."

Co-captain Glenn Alexander led the Crimson challenge, garnering All-Ivy honors in the process. His 234 total for the 54 holes of the tournament placed him four strokes under the 238 cutoff score and also placed him fifth overall.

Alexander said he was pleased about the team's performance in the Ivies. "We all played pretty badly in the second round, but overall we showed we have a very good chance to make the NCAA finals," he said. This year's finals will match the various division winners in Palo Alto, California.

Closer to Home

Crosby as well forecast a team trip to Palo Alto. "We have an excellent chance of making the finals," he said yesterday. "I know we can win Division One."

Yale had looked like a threat to Harvard earlier in the season, but finished fourth behind the Crimson. "They're not as strong as we thought they were." Alexander pronounced, adding. "We've beat them twice now, and we'll beat them again and again."

The linksters face only two more matches before meeting the other Division One teams--May 1 against Providence and May 5 against Dartmouth. Raffi predicted that the Crimson will wreak havoc against the Friars and mentioned plans for "revenge" against the Big Green.