Men's and Women's Golf Struggle Early

The Harvard men's and women's golf teams ran into early-season problems this weekend, as the men finished 10th in a field of 26 at the Yale Invitational in New Haven, while the women took ninth in a field of 12 at the Boston College Invitational.

Yale defended their home course advantage winning the tournament with a team score of 302, just edging second-place Columbia by four strokes. The Crimson shot a 322 for the tournament, which was cancelled during Sunday's second round due to hail.

The Crimson men had high expectations for the spring portion of their season and were certainly discouraged by their performance.

"It was pretty disappointing," junior co-captain Kaj Vazales said. "A couple of players, who had been playing well lately did not, and that really hurt the team."

Sophomore Andrew Malcolm provided the lone bright spot for the men, shooting a eight-over 78 in the loss. Though displeased with the result, Malcolm remained hopeful that the team will be prepared for the Ivy championships next weekend.

"We're always kind of slow out of the gate," Malcolm said. "We're still trying to figure out which players to take to Ivys next weekend, and we just hope everything comes together by then."

In women's action, the story was much the same.

Yale won the tournament with a final score of 325, easily defeating second-place Boston College by 15 strokes. The Crimson shot a 379.

Struggling with their short game throughout, the Crimson trailed for most of the match. Junior Marcie Chan hopes to turn things around next weekend for the Ivy championships at the Pine Barrens in New Jersey.

"We could all improve on our short game," Chan said. "Most of us can hit the ball fairly well, but around the green we have some trouble."

This past weekend was a setback for both teams, but the shaky starts may be quickly forgotten with a strong finish at the Ivy championships.