The first sign of life came at a three-teammatch in Princeton, N.J. against Princeton andYale. Despite the third-place finish, Harvard wasled by a solid performance by freshman KajVasales, who notched a team-low 73.

The ensuing fifth-place finish at the IvyLeague Championships was not much better from ateam perspective, but it was where Gonzalez hadthe breakout tournament of his career.

Golfers were forced to battle heavy rains andunplayable greens in Bethpage, N.Y., as play wassuspended two times during the first round for atotal of an hour. Gonzalez was unfazed, however,as the senior posted an impressive three-over-par73 on the first day before duplicating thatperformance in the final round of play. Thecombined score of 143 was the lowest for thetournament, and it earned Gonzalez the IndividualMedal as well as a spot on the All-Ivy team.

"It was a great win to finish off my career,"said Gonzalez, who had not won a tournament in hislast six years of competition. "It felt prettygood--it was my first win in a long time."

Following the lead of its captain, the Crimsonpeaked as a whole in its very next tournament, theGreater Boston Championships. Playing at the localConcord Country Club, Deardourff and Dost led theway with a pair of 76s to earn the Crimson itssecond consecutive title.

Record: N/A

Coach: Bob Leonard (men) Warren Smith(women)

Highlights: Wins Greater BostonChampionships; Alex Gonzalez wins Individual Medalat Ivy Championships

Seniors: Alex Gonzalez, Andy Rourke

"It was great to win an event, especially to doit so convincingly," MacBean said. "The key to thecourse was to play well on the first nine. Then wehad to survive holes two through five, whereunbelievable undulation makes local knowledgereally important."

The team finished off the season with mediocre10th and seventh place finishes at the New EnglandDivision I Championships and the Black KnightInvitational respectively, but by that point theCrimson had already made its indelible mark on theregional golf scene.

Gonzalez, who picked a perfect time to have theseason of his career, combined with the stellarfreshman class to produce a golf team, thatalthough is still far from exuding dominance inthe region, is at least now in a position tochallenge for the top spots.

Another Season of Baby Steps for Women'sGolf

Last year the Crimson graduated the two golferswho were there when the program first started.Co-captains Megan Murray '97 and Alexis Boyle '93left the Crimson ranks last spring with hopes thattheir "baby" would soon flourish into a boomingcompetitor in the New England area.

After a 1997-98 season in which Harvardfinished no higher than fourth in any of itstournaments, the dreams of the past Crimsoncaptains are obviously far from being realized.