Harvard Golfers Press Yale Hard, But Lose to Unbeaten Bulldogs, 6-1

NEW HAVEN, May 11--The only thing the Harvard golfers won decisively against Yale here yesterday was the cointoss. But the match was really much closer than the final 6-1 score makes it sound.

The Crimson lost two matches on the 18th green and one on the 19th, and those three turned the tide for the Elis. Two Harvard golfers carved their best scores all year out of the rolling fairways and tricky greens of Yale Golf Course. But it was all in vain.

For a moment near the end of the match it looked like Harvard was going to snap Yale's 17-game unbeaten streak. The Crimson's top man, Brian McGuinn, grabbed a one-hole lead on All-American Ned Snyder with a par on the 17th. But McGuinn three-putted the last green for a sky-high seven and lost the 530-yard 18th hole to the Eli captain's bogey to set up a playoff.

McGuinn dumped his second shot in a trap on the '9th, blasted out 15 feet short, then rimmed the cup to take a bogey 5 and lose the hole to Snyder's par.

At the same time that McGuinn looked like a sure winner, Bob Sinclair and Wayne Thornbrough were holding slight leads on Yale's sixth and seventh men. But Sinclair, who burned out a 37 on the front nine, missed a one-foot putt to blow the 17th and bogeyed the 18th to fall, 1 down.

Thornbrough had even worse trouble. Leading his Eli opponent 2 up. Harvard's number seven man dropped every one of the last four holes to lose, 2 down.

Yale is tough, as Coach Cooney Welland expected. But yesterday the Elis were close to fantastic.

Yale's John Rydell, who was boosted to number two from his usual third spot, fired an amazing one under per round of 69 that included five birdies. His Harvard opponent, Bill Coleman, fashioned a 74 with three birds of his own, but Coleman was still trounced, 4 holes down and 3 to play.

Steve Bergman, the Crimson's fifth man, also was ambushed by his Eli adversary. Bergman's fine 78 was only good for a 4 and 3 setback.

Only Mike Millies beat his Yale opponent. Harvard's scrappy captain recovered from a shaky front nine to win easily.

The turning point in Millis's match came at the treacherous 9th hole. After a poor tee shot, Millis laid his second shot only six inches from the cup on the 235-yard water hole. His par three won, and from that moment on he led all the way.

John Hawkins, playing number 4, bowed to Yale's Bruce Meyers, 3 and 2.

Eli coach Al Wilson, who keeps track of the progress of his golfers with three walkie-talkies, chalked up his ninth victory in a row over Harvard.