Golfers Top Amherst, Tufts For Fourth Victory of Year

The Harvard golf team, playing on an unfamiliar course submerged by the weekend rains, beat both host school Amherst and Tufts yesterday to raise its season record to 4-0. Bill Saletich, the reigning GBC titleholder, was again low medalist, shooting a 77 on the rain-soaked course.

"It was the best victory I can ever remember," captain Skip Kistner said after returning last night. "It was the wettest course I've ever seen. There was no roll on the drives, the wind was howling, and everybody was losing a lot of balls because they were sinking into the course and disappearing."

The final team scores, computed on the basis of a strange combination of match and medal play, showed Harvard slaughtering Tufts, 22-1, and beating Amherst, a team that had topped the Crimson last year, by a close, but comfortable 14-9 margin.

Skip Barry, who along with Saletich posted the lowest score, a 77, won both of his matches, as did Saletich. Kistner, playing at number 3, had an 80 and beat both his opponents. Quinn Smith, last year's undefeated freshman captain, shot an 80, and he also took both matches.

Junior Andy Marks, playing at number 7, shot an 84, but his 2 1/2 points clinched Harvard's win over Amherst.

"It was a tough course." Kistner said. "The victory was more rewarding than our last one against Williams and B.C., and we avenged our disappointing loss to Amherst last year."

On Friday the team faces Columbia and Penn at home in Concord. Columbia, traditionally a golf weakling, did some heavy recruiting, and the four freshman on this year's team have responded by beating Yale and performing well on their Southern trip. "They are the two toughest Ivy teams, but we will be playing on our home course, and it should be dryer than Amherst's," added Kistner.