Playing their first crucial match of the season, the Harvard golf team played badly and lost to both Pennsylvania and Columbia at their home course in Concord. It was a disappointing setback for the Crimson as they dropped their first matches of the season. The golfers are now 4-2.

Tight Course

Captain Skip Kistner had the best round for Harvard, shooting a 75, but his teammates did not play as well, most shooting in the mid 80's. Concord is a "tight course", said junior Andy Marks, who had one of the better Crimson rounds with an 84. "Most of the guys had 10 penalty shots because of out of bound and lost balls, and we were really off." Marks tended to shrug off the loss. "We got roasted," but "we can come back," he added.

The team totals reveal how far off its game Harvard was yesterday. The Crimson posted a relatively poor total of 419, while Columbia, a team that Harvard normally handles easily, shot a 401. Penn, a perennially strong team had a fine total of 388. Harvard's best team total so far this season has been a 390, and thus the squad lost mostly because it shot poorly, rather than because the other teams scored that well.

Marks explained that the high Crimson scores came as a result of "a pretty strong wind." "When you hit the ball badly off the tee, the wind magnifies it," he said. "But we can take it in stride."

With the Greater Boston only four days away, the golfers will have to rebound, but yesterday's loss was more disappointing than psychologically damaging. The GBC's, which Harvard has never lost, should be no problem, expecially since they are being held on the Crimson's home course in Concord.