The Harvard golf team, playing its best match of the year, defeated a talented Brown team, 6-1, at Providence yesterday. Today, when the team hosts Cornell, it will be trying to prove that the victory was not a one-match fluke.

Brown had beaten Penn, 5-2, and barely lost to Yale, a traditional Ivy power. Yet, if Tom Wynne's opponent at number six had not sunk a long putt on the 18th hole to win 1-up, the Harvard team would have blanked the Bruins. Of the other Crimson golfers, only Roger Wales (seven) had difficulty, winning in a 19th hole play-off.

Number-one man Bruce LoPucki and Bob Keefe (two) won their matches 3 and 1. Captain Brian McGuinn (three) and sophomore Paul Oldfield (four) had only slightly more trouble, winning 2 and 1 and 2-up. Senior Bob Sinclair (five) played the most impressively, winning 3 and 2 on the cold and windy course.

Until yesterday, the golf team, despite its 7-2 record (3-0 among the Ivies) and impressive 4-3 win over Penn, had never considered itself a championship team. In its first match, Harvard was pounded by a better-practiced Navy team; this was followed by an upset loss to Holy Cross. The team is also inexperienced--LoPucki, Wynne, and Oldfield are sophomores, and two juniors never played varsity golf before.

With Wednesday's victory, the team now has a chance to complete an undefeated season. The Crimson must still face Princeton, Dartmouth, M.I.T., and Yale.

Keefe and Sinclair, both at 7-2, have emerged as the team's strongmen. McGuinn, who has improved greatly since failing to qualify for the Navy trip, seems ready to challenge for the number one and two spots that he has held for the last two years. He now has a 7-1 record. LoPucki, at one, still hasn't conquered his putting troubles, but may be in shape today.

Cornell, which defeated Harvard last year, will not be easy. Its three top golfers from last year are returning, and the team is jammed with talented sophomores. Today's match will be the Myopia Golf and Hunt Club in Hamilton, Mass., the Harvard home course.