Golf Teams Look for Steady Performances

With his record-shattering summer, Tiger Woods effectively changed the general perception of the game of golf from a lazy pastime of senior citizens and wealthy corporate executives to a sport of fierce competitiveness and skilled athleticism.

This year, the men's and women's Harvard golf teams will look to capitalize on Woods' elevation of golf and improve upon the relative anonymity of last season with consistent play and explosive individual performances.

The men, captained by seniors Matt Dost and Kaj Vazales and coached by Bob Leonard, intend to repeat their solid play of last season in order to remain in contention for this fall's tournaments.

"If we can continue to play well and if we can turn in some good team performances, we should be able to win a few tournaments," Dost said.

The first tests of the season for the Crimson men will be the Yale Invitational this weekend followed by the Dartmouth Invitational next weekend.

Harvard will be counting on the play of seasoned veterans such as Dost and Vazales, as well as the skill of sophomores Neal Hegge and Joe Jackson.

"Kaj has been playing his best golf ever, and Neal looks very good now," Dost said.

Ultimately, the men will look to improve upon their third-place showings last year at both the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC) Tournament and the New England Intercollegiate Golf Association (NEIGA) Tournament.

The Crimson women, captained by senior Marcie Chan and coached by Warren Smith, will also be expecting strong showings from their returning veterans and talented newcomers.

Chan, who is generally considered the best recruit in the team's young history, will be finishing an illustrious career as the lone senior on the team.

The Crimson women, who started well last season only to collapse down the stretch in the spring, will be relying heavily upon Chan as well as returning juniors Maureen Shannon, who is also a Crimson editor, Sara Leventhal and Nicole Faniola.

Harvard's women will join the men at the Yale Invitational, play the following week at the Mount Holyoke Invitational and then travel down to the Garden State for the Rutgers Invitational.

In the spring portion of the season, the women will compete in the Ivy League Championship, where they placed a disappointing sixth out of seven last year.

With the continued leadership of Chan and the juniors as well as the possible emergence of freshman phenoms, the Crimson women have much reason to be excited about this coming season and the prospect of perhaps stealing the Ivy title from perennial contender Yale.