George Washington University Athletics
GW Golf signs Colombian Standout
5/14/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
May 14, 2002
WASHINGTON, DC - Federico Guzman (Bogota, Colombia/Colegio Nueva Granada) has signed a national letter-of-intent to attend The George Washington University, head golf coach Scott Allen has announced.
Guzman is currently the eighth-ranked amateur golfer in Colombia. He finished 14th in the 2001 Colombia Open (consisting mostly of South American touring and club professionals), shooting 73-70-74-75. Guzman was the third-lowest amateur in that event behind Ricardo Carillo of Mexico and Camillo Villegas (who became the first ever amateur to win the event). Villegas, a junior at the University of Florida, is the nation's top-ranked collegiate player in the Sagarin-Performance Index. Guzman defeated Villegas in the semifinals of the 2000 Colombia Amateur before falling in the championship and finishing as national runner-up.
Guzman has represented his country more than a dozen times in international competition. He finished 28th in the 2000 World Junior Team Championship in Japan, shooting 77-72-82-73 and finishing 25th at the prestigious International Junior Team Championship in Argentina with a score of 300 for four rounds, leading his team to a 10th-place finish.
"Federico did not play a lot of tournament golf in the U.S.," said Allen. "So he may have slipped under the radar screen of a lot of U.S. coaches." Allen added, "Federico is a smart, mature player that I am confident will be able to handle the the pressure of being a student-athlete at GW, both in the classroom and on the golf course."
Four more recruits are expected to sign with GW in the coming weeks. The Colonials open their 2002-03 campaign Sept. 7-8 at the U.S. Naval Academy Invitational.
