Most of the College will be pulling out of Cambridge for home by Saturday, but in the midst of the general exodus one caravan of three automobiles will be heading south to open the varsity golf season. "Home" for the nine men in the cars during the vacation will be the field house at the University of North Carolina.
The three matches that the golfers will play during the week-long holiday will not prove much except that the team needs practice. Late winter snows, cold weather, and soggy ground have kept its members from the fairways for the most part thus far this year, and as a result their opponents from the land of sunshine will have a decided edge.
But it's not just the chance to practice that installs the southern schools as favorites. The three institutions--North Carolina, Duke, and Wake Forest--rank among the best teams in the East. Playing for the Tar Heels, for example, will be Harvie Ward, national intercollegiate champion and probably one of the ten best amateurs in the country.
Five of the six returning lettermen from last year's squad will be making the trip for the Crimson, along with four new men who qualified in rounds played earlier in the term. The five veterans--Captain Bob Matson, Herb Mee, Dave Gorman, Hugh Nawn, and Jack Denton--will probably prove the regular starters for the Crimson when the season gets under way in earnest in the middle of April.
Sam Seagar, another letter-winner of last season, qualified for the junket, but is unable to go. He'll pick up again when the home matches begin.
Shepard Accompanies Them
The other four qualifiers for the trip are Doug Wilde, Al Rutner, George Briggs, and player-manager John Speer. Of them, Wilde looks the most promising for the regular play. A transfer student from Holy Cross, Wilde was ineligible last year, but this spring he should be playing high on the squad. In the qualifying rounds for the trip he finished fourth, behind last year's low-scorer Matson, and Nawn and Gorman, who tied for first.
The lineup for the regular team right now is not finished business, by any means. What little practice time remains will loosen some swings and sharpen some eyes, but it will not guarantee any man a place on the squad.
The week after vacation qualifying competitions will be held, and the results of this, plus previous performances, will determine who will be playing in the matches, come April 17. One player who could win a ranking spot is Paul Weissman, captain of last year's freshman team.
Making the spring trip along with the nine players will be Norm Shepard, who is taking over the coaching chores in this sport, besides his many other activities. For Shepard, it will be homecoming, of a sort; he used to coach basketball at Davidson, North Carolina, before moving to Cambridge last year.
The schedule this year is a bit loss strenuous than last year's pace of 17 matches. Thirteen i nall will be played and this number includes the Eastern Intercollegiates around the middle of May. Harvard will be host for this one.
But the championship matches are far away; right now, the Crimson will settle for some decent playing weather and an opportunity to blast the ball down the fairway, let the chips fall where they may.
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