With the loss of three lettermen to graduation and one to probation, the golf team looked forward to this season with less than unbridled optimism. A fairly successful southern tour capped by a close victory over Navy brightened things somewhat, and the Crimson could have another good season this year.

Of last year's seven lettermen, only captain Yank Heisler, Jack Purdy, and Steve Owen remain on the team. Senior Joe Tibbetts would have been the fourth, but he was placed on probation and will not again compete for the Crimson.

However, one of the best golfers in the University finally managed to put it all together and will compete for the varsity for the first time this year as a senior Tim Schaaf, who has been golfing for the past ten years, stayed on probation, and remained in school this year, giving the Crimson a good and steady golfer at the number four position.

Line-Up

Skip Kistner, last year's freshman captain, will be playing behind, Schaaf in the number five position. Pat Grant, a senior who worked very hard on his game this past summer, and Fred Sherman, last year's freshman manager, round out the Crimson team.

In fact, the new additions to the golf team provided three out of the four victories the Crimson needed to beat Navy this past Saturday, 4-3. It was Harvard's second victory over Navy in the past 15 years.

Owen was the only letterman to win his match as he beat Skip Palmer on the 19th hole. Two down with four to go. Owen won on the 16th and 18th holes before he sunk his putt for a bogey on the 19th. Palmer double bogeyed the hole.

Cliff-Hanger

Schaaf and the Middies' Ray Walters carried their match to the 18th hole before Schaaf sunk an eight footer for a par and beat Walters, one-up. Shaaf only started to putt well on the back nine, tieing the match in the 16th with a birdie.

Grant needed all 18 holes before he could notch his one-up victory over Mike Aycock. Sherman, playing in the last position, gave the Crimson its most decisive win, defeating Mack Paul, 4 and 3. While Sherman was not overly impressive, he did take most of his holes with pars.

The Navy match capped an exhausting two-week stay in the South. Playing for the first time since last season, the golf team frequently practiced twice a day, and played seven rounds of medal play competition before the close win over the Middies.

In the Miami Invitational, the Crimson golfers entered as individuals and fared better in scores than the Harvard team of last year. Heilser and Schaaf tied at 317 for 72 holes, and were high scorers for the Crimson. Over 80 teams and 500 golfers were in the Invitational won by Florida University.

Not Bad

Right after the Miami competition. the golf team moved on to Cape Coral and competed in the Golf America Classic. Although they did not finish the four-round competition, the Crimson did find themselves around 20th in a field of 40 after three rounds.

While the Crimson may not be as weak as it was before the southern tour. it will still find competition in the Ivies very rough this year. Princeton and Dartmouth, who beat the golfers last year, will dominate the league.

Cornell has a solid core of returning veterans, Yale will be mad after last year's humiliating season, Columbia and Penn are rebuilding, and only Brown will be a patsy. The addition of Schaaf gave the Crimson a real boost, it remains to be seen if it will be enough.