After a week of practice in South Carolina and a side trip to the Masters in Augusta, Georgia, the Harvard golf team was soundly defeated by Navy at Annapolis on Saturday afternoon.

In their opening match of the season, the Crimson golfers, who lost by 20 strokes, were plagued by cold temperatures and extremely high winds. "We played horribly. After faltering on the first few holes because of the wind, we all blew up. The fact that Navy was used to its usually windy course didn't help us any," said captain Fred Sherman of the disappointing loss.

The top five Navy players registered a 412 total, while the Crimson wound up with a miserable sum of 432 strokes. Because of the weather, only one golfer broke 80-Navy's Bill Bailey, who had a 78.

Sherman finished as the low man for Harvard with an 81. The rest of the Crimson-Skip Kistner, Terry Wynne, Skip Barry, John Scoviak, Bill Salatich, and manager Glenn Gessay, playing in Cooch Owen's place-were bunched in the middle and high 80's.

Though marked by some rainy days, the Crimson's swing through South Carolina earlier in the week provided the golfers with a lot of much-needed practice. Said Sherman, "I thought we were ready for the Navy match. We played well in South Carolina, and Friday's warm-up session on the Navy course was encouraging."

The golfers took Thursday off to watch the opening day's action in the Master's golf tournament. "Watching that tournament really got us in the mood to play some serious golf," said Sherman. "We were psyched up for Navy, but the first few holes just took it out of us. I guess we needed a few finesse shots in the wind."

The golf team will seek a confidence-building first victory against Williams and B.C. at Williamstown Tuesday afternoon.