Chill Stifles M. Golf at ECAC's

Unseasonably cold weather, gusty winds and frequent rainfall were certainly not obstacles that the Harvard men's golf team wished to face as they battled to defend their 1994 ECAC Tournament title. Unfortunately, the weather caught the Crimson offguard last weekend as they finished eighth out of 20 teams.

"The weather was the most extreme weather I have ever had to play in, it was especially hard to bring out your best," junior Luis Sanchez said. "We had to count some pretty high scores."

Despite the harsh conditions at New Hartford, N.Y., each player finished the course. Senior co-captain Jun Choo, playing in the number one position, finished with 79 strokes on Sunday and 88 on Monday.

In the number two spot, senior co-captain Joel Radtke had a score of 82 and 75. Playing number three was Sanchez with 80 and 81 strokes, while Ed Boyda, playing fourth, scored a 90-86--176.

In only his second tournament, sophomore Alex Gonzalez played consistently well for the Crimson, finishing with 79 strokes on both days to come to a 158 total, one stroke behind Radtke for the top Harvard place.

Skidmore won the title with a team score of 617, followed by Princeton at 628. The Tigers' Ben McConahey shot a tournament low 75-75--150.

The eighth place finish, at 641 strokes, came as a disappointment to the Crimson, who surprised every-one last year with a victory in last year's ECAC Championships.

After tying for third in the qualifier for last year's Championships, the Crimson had high hopes but did not expect to win the entire tournament. Nevertheless, they did, finishing with 10 strokes above the second place team.

The Crimson is hoping to make up for this year's disappointing finish by performing well in their next tournament which will be at New Seabury this weekend. There will be plenty of competition for the Harvard, as the New England Intercollegiate Golf Championships draws 45 of the strongest teams in the northeast.

"This tournament has become more important since we didn't do as well as we hoped in the ECAC's," Radtke said. "It is a chance to prove that we belong among the biggest teams in the northeast." ECAC CHAMPIONSHIPS 1. Siddmore  617 2. Princeton  628 3. UNH  631 4. Binghampton  631 5. Iona  632 6. Maryland-Baltimore Cnty  638 7. UConn  638 8. Harvard  639 9. Bucknell  641 10. Columbia  652 10. Colgate  652