Linksters Stand Fourth in NCAA Qualifiers UMass Leads After First Round of Tourney

After the opening round of the NCAA qualifying tournament in Providence, R.I., the Crimson linksters stand in fourth position, 21 shots behind the front-running UMass Minutemen.

Harvard also stands to the rear of Dartmouth, whose 307 team score was three strokes less than the Crimson's total, and Boston College, which had a combined score of 309.

The team medalist, in addition to the top two individual medalists, will advance to the NCAA tourney in June.

Leading the Harvard scoring parade was Alex Vik, whose 74 score would have been considerably improved if he had been able to find his touch on the greens. Captain Scott McNealy chipped in with 76, thanks, for the most part, to birdies on each of the three par fives.

Gene Purdy fired a 79 on the challenging Agawam C.C. course, while Dave Paxton's 81 and Spence Fitzgibbons' 88 closed out the Crimson scorecard.

With 18 holes now remaining, it appears that Harvard's best shot to land an NCAA berth is in the persons of either Vik or McNealy, as UMass, whose top three men shot 69, 71, and 72 yesterday, has assumed a commanding lead in the team competition.