Golfers Stroll, Triumph by 35

The Harvard golf team destroyed MIT and the University of Vermont in a tri-meet at Concord Country Club yesterday in what can only technically be called a match. The Crimson finished 35 strokes ahead of the second-place Engineers with a total of 392.

The contest was really a qualifying round to fill the four remaining positions in tomorrow's critical tri-match with Princeton and Yale at New Haven, the Elm City. Harvard's number one and two players, Alex Vik and Spence Fitzgibbons, didn't compete in order to give more golfers a chance to play.

Bobby Thompson, who joined the team just last week, demonstrated that his game is in fine shape, carving out a 74 over the tricky Concord layout to capture medalist honors by four strokes. Thompson was fortunate to start his round on the backside, which is far less demanding than the treacherously tight front nine.

"The two sides are completely different." Thompson--who used his driver with abandon in his first nine to tally a 37--said yesterday. "I put the driver in my bag for a lot of the second nine and counted on hitting the low irons in," the new team member said. Thompson's strategy paid off as he produced a 37 matching on the backside.

1984

Chris Ball placed second with a 78 and following close behind was Dave Paxton with a 79. Gene Purdy shot an 80 and captain Scott McNealy put together a 40-41 for an 81. No linksman from MIT or Vermont scored under 84.

Considering the difficulty of the course and weakness of the opposition, the Crimson's scores were satisfactory. The golfers also battled slow greens and tricky sidehill pin placements.

Using yesterday's scores, coach Tim Taylor and Captain McNealy have tentatively decided the line-up for tomorrow's showdown in New Haven. Thompson, Ball, Paxton and Purdy will join Vik, Fitzgibbons and McNealy for the trip.