M. Golf a Winner, Women Fall Short

In the final tournaments of their seasons, both the Harvard men's and women's golf teams took on Ivy League rivals Brown and Dartmouth on Saturday at the Duxbury Yacht Club.

While the day's action might not have overshadowed the concurrent Kentucky Derby and NBA playoffs, it provided at least some satisfaction for the men's team, which finally asserted itself against the Big Green.

The format of this last tournament was unorthodox. In the morning, male and female members from both Harvard and Dartmouth joined forces in a mixed doubles format. Brown did not bring any female golfers and could not compete.

The Crimson teams won the event by garnering four of a possible seven points. A point was awarded to the squad leading after nine holes.

In the afternoon, the top eight players from each of the three schools played 18-hole matches against their corresponding seeds.

Scoring was equally bizzare. Players could total three points against each of their opponents: one for the first nine holes, one for the back nine holes and one for their composite score.

After these complex calculations were carried out, the men's team finished first overall, while Dartmouth beat out the women's squad.

If there was any drama in these matchups, it was between Harvard and Dartmouth's men's teams, which have battled closely in this year's tournaments.

In April's Ivy League championships, for instance, the Crimson and Big Green tied for second in team competition behind Princeton. Dartmouth's Brian Kim also took the top individual spot over Harvard junior Joel Radtke by just one stroke.

In this final meeting, however, the Crimson notched a 5-3 triumph over the Big Green, while easily dispatching of the Bears as well.

"We're very evenly matched, and a lot of the players on Dartmouth were similar to our players," said Radtke, who was the first seed and beat his Dartmouth opponent. "It was a grudge match, and we played very well."

The match's expanded format, which allowed more players to compete, also worked to the Crimson's advantage.

"Since we are a deep team, we played pretty well," said second-seeded sophomore Luis Sanchez. "We proved that we have a lot of young talent."

Freshmen Andy Rourke and Alex Gonzalez showed this by beating their opponents at the sixth and seventh seeds, respectively.

The women were not as fortunate against a Dartmouth team that was one of this year's top Ivy League squads.

"We're disappointed," said fourthseeded junior Margaret Roberts. "We played our hearts out against Dartmouth, and we wanted to win."

Roberts felt that high winds and cold weather contributed somewhat to the loss.

"People were cold and missing puts," she said. "It definitely had a big impact."

Despite the loss, future prospects look good for the Crimson, whose top three seeds, including sophomore captain Alexis Boyle, are relatively young.