Rivera Wins Individual Title at Furman Intercollegiate
6/21/1999 8:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
May 3, 1999
RIVERA WINS INDIVIDUAL TITLE AT FURMAN INTERCOLLEGIATE
Miguel Rivera (Bel Air, Md.) won a five-hole playoff last weekend to capture medalist honors and lead the Maryland Terrapins to a third-place finish at the Furman Intercollegiate in Greenville, S.C. Rivera, playing undoubtedly his finest golf of the season, has had a pair of subpar rounds in each of his last three tournaments. Rivera shot 73-69-71-213 at the Furman University Golf Course to match Mississippi State's Richard Barbles round-for-round, but it was Rivera's playoff that helped him capture his first major college individual title.
Rivera's second round 69 at Furman was his lowest round of the season, and his three-under 213 for the tournament was his best performance this spring. Since beginning the spring season with an average of 76.67 strokes per round, Rivera has fired par or lower in six of his last nine rounds, and seven of 12. His average over the last three tournaments - including first, 10th and 13th-place finishes - is 72.11.
TERPS AWAIT SELECTION CALL
Maryland awaits a formal call from the NCAA Selection Committee to announce that the Terrapins have qualified for their first NCAA regional appearance since 1994, and just the second in at least two decades. The Terps have been ranked sixth or seventh in the NCAA Region III North District all season. The top eight teams qualify for the East Regional at Barrington, R.I., May 20-22.
NCAA Selection: May 11, 1999
TOP TERP DURING STRETCH RUN
In between outstanding play recently from teammates Gary Mankulish (Laurel, Md.) and Keith Unikel (Potomac, Md.), Rivera has clearly been the most outstanding Terrapin golfer since the ACC Championships. Since an opening round 78 at the ACCs, Rivera has been a model of consistency, shooting between 69 and 74 in every round. Six of those eight rounds have been par or better. His scores in each tournament have progressively improved. Here is a look at Rivera during his last three tournaments:
Tournament Place Scores ACC Championships T10 78 71 70 219 +3 Wofford Invitational T13 74 72 71 217 +1 Furman Intercollegiate 1 73 69 71 213 -3ALL-ACC AND ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICA NOMINEE
Terp junior Keith Unikel boasts the best individual ranking of any Maryland golfer, on and off the course. Unikel is a top candidate to earn All-ACC accolades and is a Maryland nomination for Academic All-America honors. Unikel boasts a 3.46 GPA while majoring in finance.
TEAM RANKINGSC Maryland was ranked 32nd by Golfstat last week, 32nd in the MasterCard CGF Rankings and 38th in the Golfweek/Sagarin ratings. Individually, junior Keith Unikel is ranked 90th in the latest Golfweek/Sagarin ratings.
Last week's rankings:
Golfstat rankings for April 27, 1999:
1. UNLV, 2. Georgia, 3. Clemson, 4. Georgia Tech, 5. Arizona State, 6. Houston, 7. Oklahoma State, 8. Minnesota, 9. Florida, 10. South Carolina, 11. Texas, 12. Washington, 13. Nebraska, 14. Northwestern, 15. New Mexico, 16. NC State, 17. E. Tennessee State, 18. North Carolina, 19. Oklahoma, 20. North Florida, 21. Oregon, 22. Mississippi State, 23. California, 24. Augusta State, 25. South Alabama, 26. BYU, 27. SMU, 28. UCLA, 29. Tennessee, 30. Kansas, 31. Pepperdine, 32. MARYLAND, 33. Virginia, 34. So. California, 35. Stanford, 36. TCU, 37. Colorado State, 38. Coastal Carolina, 39. Fresno State, 40. Georgia State.
MasterCard CGF rankings for April 28, 1999:
1. Georgia, 2. UNLV, 3. Clemson, 4. Georgia Tech, 5. Houston, 6. Oklahoma State, 7. Arizona State, 8. Texas, 9. Florida, 10. South Carolina, 11. Minnesota, 12. Washington, 13. Northwestern, 14. Nebraska, 15. North Carolina, 16. New Mexico, 17. E. Tennessee State, 18. NC State, 19. BYU, 20. Oregon, 21. North Florida, 22. Oklahoma, 23. Mississippi State, 24. California, 25. Augusta State, 26. South Alabama, 27. UCLA, 28. Stanford, 29. Pepperdine, 30. Virginia, 31. Kansas, 32. MARYLAND, 33. SMU, 34. Tennessee, 35. Oregon State, 36. Fresno State, 37. Colorado State, 38. TCU, 39. So. California, 40. Mississippi.
Golfweek/Sagarin ratings through tournaments of May 1:
1. Clemson, 2. Georgia, 3. Georgia Tech, 4. UNLV, 5. Oklahoma State, 6. Arizona State, 7. Houston, 8. South Carolina, 9. Florida, 10. Minnesota, 11. Texas, 12. BYU, 13. North Carolina, 14. Northwestern, 15. UCLA, 16. New Mexico, 17. Nebraska, 18. Washington, 19. E. Tennessee State, 20. Oregon, 21. California, 22. NC State, 23. North Florida, 24. Pepperdine, 25. Augusta State, 26. Mississippi State, 27. Kansas, 28. Coastal Carolina, 29. Oklahoma, 30. TCU, 31. Stanford, 32. Fresno State, 33. Duke, 34. SMU, 35. Oregon State, 36. Texas-Arlington, 37. Arizona, 38. MARYLAND, 39. Campbell, 40. South Alabama.
