M., W. Golf Struggle in '98-'99

Perhaps Harvard links mastery has to wait until after graduation when multi-million dollar deals hinge on shooting par.

With a team composed chiefly of a freshman and four sophomores against just one senior, the Harvard men's golf team struggled mightily this season. Its female counterparts fared even worse.

For the men, the fall golf season opened in pasture-plentiful Hanover, N.H., for the Dartmouth Invitational from Sept. 26-27. In a trend that would continue throughout the season, inconsistent play by the team produced a 10th place finish out of a field of 16.

While most of its finishes hovered around 10th place, Harvard posted its best numbers at the Army Invitational on Oct. 10-11 where it ended in seventh.

The Crimson appeared to improve slowly every week through the fall season.

"The team is strong," captain Doug MacBean said. "Four of our guys are freshmen and sophomores so we have a lot to look forward to."

At the Ivy Championships the Crimson ended the tournament a full 24 strokes behind the champions, Columbia, taking sixth in the Ivy.

"The season did end on a bad note," freshman Andrew Malcolm said. "But we are a very young team, and we're gaining experience."

While the men's golf team had a couple of bright moments, the women could claim just two finishes in the top half of its field.

Both came in the spring, when it took fifth at the Boston College Invitational, the season opener on April 10-11. The Crimson also grabbed second place honors at the Massachusetts Intercollegiate Championships--in a field of five.

Aside from that, the results looked pretty bleak for the Crimson.

In the fall, Harvard finished 12th of 14 at the Dartmouth Invitational and followed that with a 14th of 15 finish in New Haven.

While the golf team's play did warm a little with the weather, a disappointing showing at the Ivy Championships came in the middle of the Crimson's two decent outings.

Harvard finished in fifth place in the Ivy, a poor outcome considering only five Ivy schools field women's golf teams.