The Harvard golfers fell to the Rhode Island Rams yesterday in Kingston despite a respectable 407 team tally. The Rams produced a 397 total for the victory.

Linksman George Arnold took first-place honors for the Crimson by carding an eight-vice-par 79 on the rain-soaked course. "I hit the driver real well throughout the match, but the greens gave us all problems," Arnold said after the defeat.

80, 82, 82

George Alexander notched second for the linksters by tallying a fine round of 80. Performing from the third slot, senior John Thompson carded an 82, as did teammate Jim Dales.

Freshman Jim Morley chipped in with an 84 to round out the afternoon for the Crimson.

Arnold got off to a frustrating start in the match by bogeying three holes on the front nine. He recovered on the back nine to meet par on the last seven holes of the course.

Up and Down

"The course was unbelievably bad. The greens were so riveted that all of our shots had vertical movement," Thompson said, adding that the linksters failed in all their birdie attempts.

Despite the miserable conditions, Thompson still played a credible round. He avoided the soaky center of the fairways during the 18-hole outing to produce only nine bogeys on his scorecoard.

"I almost chipped in a birdie on the 17th, but the shot struck the flag stick and wouldn't fall for me," Thompson said.

The linksters must rebound from Wednesday's split decision against Brown, Salem State and Boston College and yesterday's defeat to challenge area opponents in next week's Greater Boston Championships.

"We were victorious in last year's championship, and we're determined to retain our title this year," Arnold said.