And the greens also gave the Crimson trouble. After playing on punched greens the day before, Ruby Hills’ greens were fast and at times unforgiving.

In particular, Cho, who averaged +5 during the fall season, perhaps felt the effect of playing on the new course more than the rest of her teammates.

“I watched [Cho] hit a couple shots where she thought she’d hit good shots, and they turned out badly or in a hazard [because she didn’t know the course],” Rhoads said.

Usually a strong putter, Cho also failed to master the greens, uncharacteristically missing putts within six feet.

Of course, even if the Harvard players had shot strong scores, beating Berkeley would’ve been a challenge. As a team, the Bears shot just +9, not too far from even par.

Despite the easy victory for Cal, Rhoads stood by his decision to meet up with such a formidable foe so early in the season.

“It’s probably a little hard on confidence to [play them] this early in the season,” Rhoads said. “But I also look at it as a great motivator…at the risk of knocking down our confidence, it also shows us [that we need to] keep on working and keep on striving for the direction that [Cal] is in.”

Even with the loss, the team feels like it’s close to breaking through.

“We’ve gotten some good work done this weekend, and next weekend in Florida, we’ll do the same,” Kabasakalis said. “Everyone worked really hard over the winter, and it might not be quite showing itself yet, but I think it will.”