The Harvard golf team stroked to an impressive victory yesterday in the grueling 36-hole Greater Boston Golf Championship, averaging only 77 shots per player.

Sparked by the double 73s of co-captains Art Burke and Quin Smith, Harvard coasted to an easy 17-shot lead over second-place Boston College.

Since Burke and Smith were tied after regulation play, there was a playoff for individual honors, despite the protest of both the participants.

"That was a controversial item," Burke said last night. "Quin and I thought it would be a better idea not to have a playoff. We really didn't want to play at all. But those ying-yangs that ran the tournament made us."

Burke won the playoff on the first hole, and with Tom Yellin shooting 78 and 77, Harvard placed three players in the top five.

Consistent Play

Helped out by the consistent play of Steve McConnell, John Mark and Bill Gray, Harvard breezed by B.C., Tufts, Northeastern, MIT and B.U.

The team total was 770, compared with B.C.'s 787 and Tuft's 800. Yellin said last night the Crimson score is the lowest they have shot in several years.

"Last year we won it [the GBGC], but we shot over 800," Yellin said. "This year we played much better. The weather was good and that definitely helped our game."

Yellin said the strong competition this year also spurred Harvard to better-than-average performances. "Basically we found out today that we can handle sustained period play," he said.

The victory was not unexpected. Harvard has generally won the GBGC easily in the past, despite the strain of playing 36 holes in one day.

The team's progress will be put to the test when Harvard meets Williams and B.C. on William's home course tomorrow.

The match tomorrow will be followed by a home match Thursday with Brown, at the Country Club in Brookline.