Crimson Linksters Wreak Vengeance On Penn, Columbia

Tom Yellin of the Harvard golf team phoned The Crimson last night to announce in a happy drunken slur a Crimson victory over Penn and Columbia at Rockland Country Club, Sparkill, New York.

"Hi, this is Tom Yellin," he yelled into the phone, "and I'm calling from the Hudson Terrace Tavern, and we just beat Penn and Columbia, which is pretty unreal."

And it was fairly unreal as it turned out. Favorite Penn came in a dismal third while Harvard edged Columbia by two strokes, 376-378, to assume a commanding position in the Ivy League.

The score is a record low for Harvard and the match saw all Crimson golfmen breaking 80 for the first time in years. Low man was Art Burke who came in with a 73, followed closely by Quinn Smith at 75.

Overcomes Bogey

Smith inspired his teammates, overcoming a quintuple bogey on the ninth hole to finish second. Yellin, Steve McConnell and John Mark tied for the Crimson at 76, while Tom Backenstone and Skip Barry posted a 78 and 79 for the day.

The course played fairly easily, Yellin said. Most of the tees were well forward, the greens and fairways were in good condition and only a light rain in the middle of the match bothered the golfers.

Columbia pressed Harvard all the way in the match and with only two Crimson players still out, the score was tied. Then Burke picked up two strokes on his man for the Harvard lead, managing a two under par on the back nine.

Yellin, the last man off the course, played even with his opponent on the last hole, protecting the slim lead and insuring the Crimson victory.

The win, which counts twice for Harvard, makes their overall record 5-2, and the important Ivy record 3-0. With yesterday's victory Harvard took a big jump to the head of the race for first place honors.

Since Penn and Cornell were supposed to be the teams to beat, and since Harvard has gone ahead and done just that, the chances for staying at the head of the pack look good right now.

Anyway, Tom Yellin and the rest of the golfers think so right now, and say there's no way they'll blow the rest of the season.

"Look, we're all half in the bag right now," said Smith. "But this is the biggest victory we've had in years--tell everybody what a great job Bob Harrison did in coaching," he added jubilantly.