The golf team, with increased strength in the lower positions this year, opens its season today against Rutgers at New Brunswick.

Last year the team fared pretty much as its star and number one man Ted Cooney did, but this year greater strength in the lower positions should enable the team to win some of the closer matches.

Pinehurst Turnout Exceptional

At the spring training session in Pinehurst, N.C., one of the largest turnouts in recent years competed for the seven team berths, and engendered some of the keenest competition ever. Whereas last year the qualifying score for three rounds was 86, the score was 81 for five rounds this year, and on the final round there were no less than five players in contention for the seventh position.

Stokes At one

Brock Stokes, who played behind Cooney last year, will be at one against Rutgers. At the end of last season, his game picked up considerably, and he went as far as the semi-finals in the Eastern intercollegiates at Yale. During the summer he polished up his game by playing in a number of Southern tournaments, and, on the basis of several good rounds at Pinehurst, he appears ready to start the season where he left off last year.

Behind Stokes will be Roger Fleischman, also a returning letterman. A steady player, Fleischman rarely rolls in the ruff, concentrating on accuracy rather than power.

Bill McAllister at three, however, has a powerful, albeit somewhat erratic, game. Making a comeback from last season, when he failed to earn a letter after winning one the year before, he posted several fine rounds at Pinehurst, including a 74.

Captain Bob Ornsteen, usually a bit erratic early in the season, also had some excellent rounds in practice, and will be at four. Lou Klein will be at five.

Sophomore Driggs Promising

One of the most encouraging developments at Pinehurst, according to Coach Harold "Josh" Williams, was the performance of sophomore Terry Driggs, who will play at six. A steady player with fine form, Driggs is considered to have great potential. His progress could very well be crucial in determining some of the close matches.

Another sophomore, Alan Steinert, will play at seven on the strength of his final round 74. This score placed him just above Dave Beadie, George Leness, and letterman Jim Bailey, any of whom could earn a position later in the season.