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 below-par 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.

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  -3

ALL-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 RANKINGS

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.

MARYLAND MEN'S GOLF SPRING 1999 STATISTICS

Name              Trn. Rds. Top 10 -Par Par 60s Low    High    Strk.   Avg.
Keith Unikel, Jr.   6    18    3     7   1   4   68 (4) 78     1,302  72.33
Gary Mankulish, Jr. 7    21    2     5   2   0   70 (2) 78     1,546  73.62
Miguel Rivera, Sr.  7    21    2     5   2   1   69     81     1,559  74.23
Mike Deo, Sr.       7    21    0     2   2   0   70     81     1,573  74.90
Pete Coughlin, Sr.  7    21    0     1   2   1   68     85 (2) 1,605  76.43
Ben Ricker, Jr.     1     3    0     0   0   0   78     87       248  82.70
Team Totals         7    84    7    20   9   6   68 (5) 87     6,176  73.52

MARYLAND MEN'S GOLF SPRING 1999 RESULTS

March 12-13 - UNC Charlotte Birkdale Classic
Birkdale Golf Course, Charlotte, N.C.
(Par 72, 7,013 Yards)
 Finish             Scores
 T6 of 18 MARYLAND  298 302 300 900 +36
 T7 Keith Unikel    71 73 74 218 +2
 T13 Gary Mankulish 72 73 75 220 +4
 T44 Miguel Rivera  74 77 79 230 +14
 T54 Mike Deo       81 81 72 234 +18
 89 Pete Coughlin   85 79 85 249 +33

March 19-20 - Pepsi Intercollegiate
Bradford Creek Golf Course, Greenville, N.C.
(Par 72, 6,976 Yards)
 Finish             Scores
 3 of 25 MARYLAND   286 297 293 876 +12
 3 Gary Mankulish   71 72 71 214 -2
 T10 Keith Unikel   70 75 72 217 +1
 T19 Mike Deo       71 73 76 220 +4
 T56 Pete Coughlin  75 77 74 226 +10
 T74 Miguel Rivera  74 77 77 228 +12

March 22-23 - Cleveland Golf Championships
Palmetto Golf Club, Aiken, S.C.
(Par 71, 6,380 Yards)
 Finish             Scores
 T2 of 12 MARYLAND  287 294 288 869 +17
 T3 Keith Unikel    68 75 70 213 E
 T11 Mike Deo       70 74 72 216 +3
 T11 Pete Coughlin  75 68 73 216 +3
 T33 Gary Mankulish 74 77 73 224 +11
 T49 Miguel Rivera  81 78 73 232 +19

April 3-4 - Cleveland Golf/Augusta State Invitational
Forest Hills Golf Club, Augusta, Ga.
(Par 72, 6,875 Yards)
 Finish  Scores
 T6 of 19 MARYLAND  296 292 285 873 +9
 T18 Keith Unikel   76 73 68 217 +1
 T23 Mike Deo       73 73 72 218 +2
 T23 Pete Coughlin  72 74 72 218 +2
 T36 Miguel Rivera  75 72 73 220 +4
 T76 Gary Mankulish 78 74 75 227 +11

April 16-18 - ACC Championships
Old North State Club at Uwharrie Point, Badin Lake, N.C.
(Par 72, 7,102 Yards)
 Finish             Scores
 6 of 9 MARYLAND    306 299 300 905 +41
 T10 Miguel Rivera  78 71 70 219 +3
 T22 Gary Mankulish 75 75 73 223 +7
 T36 Mike Deo       77 77 79 233 +17
 T38 Pete Coughlin  76 76 82 234 +18
 44 Ben Ricker      87 83 78 248 +32

April 23-24 - Wofford Invitational
Carolina Country Club, Spartanburg, S.C.
(Par 72, 6,675 Yards)
 Finish              Scores
 T3 of 13  MARYLAND  294 283 294 871 +7
 T6 Gary Mankulish   70 70 74 214 -2
 T13 Miguel Rivera   74 72 71 217 +1
 T13 Keith Unikel    76 68 73 217 +1
 T27 Mike Deo        74 73 76 223 +7
 59 Pete Coughlin    77 78 81 236 +20

May 1-2 - Furman Intercollegiate
Furman University Golf Course, Greenville, S.C.
(Par 72, 6,800 Yards)
 Finish  Scores
 3 of 17  MARYLAND  297 284 301 882 +18
 1 Miguel Rivera    73 69 71 213 -3
 T13 Keith Unikel   76 68 76 220 +4
 T26 Gary Mankulish 75 71 78 224 +8
 T34 Pete Coughlin  74 76 76 226 +10
 T44 Mike Deo       75 76 78 229 +13