The Harvard men's golf team began the 1996-97 campaign at the Wildcat Invitational over the weekend with a two-day score of 671, placing the team only ninth in a field of 13, but there is reason for encouragement in the relatively lackluster performance.

The Crimson was paced by senior Darren Kilfara, who is a Crimson editor, and sophomore Doug McBeab, who shot 153 and 152, respectively.

Such solid performances from Kilfara, who was playing competitive golf for the first time in over a year, and McBean, who competed in his first tournament at the collegiate level, bode well for the team in the upcoming spring and fall competitions.

Sophomore Craig MacDonald posted a solid 153, overcoming a lack of experience this year--playing only four rounds this summer--and an inconsistent putter.

"I hoped for better," MacDonald said, "but I couldn't expect much [given may lack of play this year]."

Despite these encouraging performances, the team as a whole did not fare as it has hoped it would.

"As a [team], we didn't play well," junior Alex Gonzalez said. "But the positive was a couple of guys who really came out [and shot good scores]."

The team earned a 306 on Sunday on a fairly wide-open course and then closed with a 311, as the Crimson struggled with the tighter, more difficult layout on Monday. Yale led the field, firing a two-day score of 583 to beat second-place Hofstra by 11 strokes. WILDCAT INVIT. 1. Yale  583 2. Hofstra  594 3. Uconn  602 4. Central Conn.  604 5. Holy Cross  609 6. Providence  612 7. Boston College  613 8. Army  615 9. Harvard  617 10. Bryant  623 11. UNH  628 12. Vermont  639 13. Maine  640