The golf team finished fifth in the Eastern Intercollegiate Championship at Penn State Monday -- Harvard's best showing ever in the tournament.

The Crimson's top five men combined for a 777 total, an average of less than 78 strokes per round, but way behind the hosting Nittany Lions, who won their second straight title by 30 strokes with a 729. Navy was second, Army third (770), Yale fourth (771), and Princeton tied Harvard for fifth.

Bruce LoPucki, the Crimson's number-one man, finished ninth in the individual standings with 75, 76 -- 151. Bob Keefe was 11th at 153, as Penn State golfers grabbed the top three positions.

Play was cancelled Saturday and Sunday because of rain and cold. And Monday everyone was forced to play 36 holes even though the weather remained chilly and wet. The fairways were sopped, and Penn State's wide-open par 69 course played very long.

But nearly all the Harvard golfers performed well. Sophomore Tom Wynne fired a fine 155, senior Bob Sinclair a 158, and captain Brian McGuinn a 160. It was a far cry from last year's Easterns at Cornell when the team averaged 87 shots a round to wind up 13th.

The Crimson's finish, just six strokes behind Yale, provides encouragement for today's big match with the Elis, which should decide the Ivy title. Harvard hasn't beaten Yale in golf since 1957 when Eisenhower was just starting his second term and you and I were still watching Captain Midnight.

But if Harvard is going to do it this will have to be the year. The Crimson sports an 8-2 record, with only an opening-match loss to Navy and a freak 4-3 defeat at the hands of Holy Cross.

Keefe is nearing the top of his game, and LoPucki is finally starting to show the class that made him a USGA Junior semifinalist. Paul Oldfield and McGuinn have been running hot and cold, and Oldfield will probably be dropped from third to fifth for today's match.

Yale is as strong as ever. The Elis have a string of 28 straight victories, seven this year, and only Harvard and Princeton stand in their way.

In the Easterns, Eli Jim Rogers tied for seventh with 149, and Dan Hewins tied Keefe at 11th. But Yale has some who are even better, like undefeated Bill Donnelly and captain John Rydell, who played number two last year. Coach Al Wilson has a 110-9 match-play won-lost record in the past 12 years with six Eastern titles and nine Ivy crowns.

Today's match will begin at 1:30 p.m. at The Country Club in Brookline. The public is invited. Harvard  ab  r  h  rbi Smith, ss  3  1  0  0 Cobb, 3b  4  1  1  1 H'st'n, rf  4  0  2  2 Lord, cf  4  0  1  0 Hall, c  3  0  0  0 Kar'g's, 1f  4  0  0  0 O'D'n'l, 1b  4  0  1  0 H'st'n, 2b  3  1  1  0 Linc'n, p  2  0  0  0 Totals  31  3  6  3 M.I.T.  ab  r  h  rbi Nor'li, c  4  0  0  0 Cleary, 1b  5  0  1  0 Reid, cf  4  0  1  0 W'sman, 1f  3  0  1  0 Jensen, rf  4  0  0  0 Altman, 3b  4  0  1  0 Kiburz, p  3  0  0  0 Franz, p  0  0  0  0 Richman, ph  1  0  0  0 Bristol, ss  3  0  1  0 Young, 2b  2  0  1  0 Totals  33  0  6  0