Onto Ivies, then, and a drab, rain-swept effort that saw us finish fifth, with Luis struggling to get on top of his game and nobody breaking 160 in a rain-shortened event. But thereafter things turned for the better:

We won the Greater Bostons for the first time in five years, pipping MIT to the post by eight shots, and then in Portland, Maine in the Spring New Englands, Luis finally burst forth in a blaze of birdies.

His even-par 70 in the second round--and he missed a three-footer at the last--moved him from eight shots off of the 18-hole pace to second place, only one behind the winner; buoyed also by 76s from Craig and Ed, we rallied for our best team score of the year, a 305.

That happy note, and the subsequent splitting of a match with Brown (win) and Dartmouth (loss), should have been our swan song, but the loss of the New Seabury tournament meant we could add the Army Invitational to our schedule in early May.

Again, the weather was a dampening influence, but senior Oliver Hsiang still made the most of his first start, shooting a 79 on day two.

Luis posted a pair of 79s himself, which proved to be the popular number, as I also pitched in a 79 on top of my first-round 80. Not such hot scoring on an eminently easy course, perhaps, but at least I could go out on something of a high note: In that 80, I was 11 over after 12 holes but rallied to play the last six in two under, sparked by a 2-iron which I holed for eagle on a soaking par 4.

The team only gets younger from here: Andy and Alex Gonzalez will be next year's co-captains, and players like Craig, Doug, sophomore Nick Saunders and freshman Steve Ranere will fight for those elusive five-man roster spots.

But with Luis, Ed, Oliver and me gone, team chemistry figures to change completely.

Perhaps, some of my younger comrades may say (in light of the immodesty which compelled me to write this piece in the first place), not a moment too soon