Zucchetti leads opening round of the Patriot All-America
Federico Zucchetti has a one-stroke lead
Courtesy of Golfweek/Tracy Wilcox photo
Litchfield Park, Ariz. (Tuesday, Dec. 29, 2015) –
Federico Zucchetti fired an opening round 68 to
lead at The Patriot All-America Invitational on the
Gold Course at The Wigwam in Litchfield Park,
Ariz. Last year’s runner-up George Cunningham
and Adam Wood sit one stroke back at 2-under
69.
A native of Gozzano, Italy, and junior at Texas
Tech, Zucchetti started on No. 10 with his father
on his bag. He started with three-straight pars
before a bogey on No. 11. It would be the only
bogey of his round. Birdies at Nos. 14, 16, 4 and
8 moved him to 3-under 68.
“I played well tee to green which I think was
important,” said Zucchetti. “My pace was
consistent and even my short putts were pretty
good. I had a slow start; I was one over after four
or five holes. I suffered in the cold a lot. I don’t
like playing in the cold but I got warm pretty
easily.”
Cunningham’s round included three birdies, three
bogeys and an eagle. After bogey on the fifth the
sophomore from the University of Arizona
responded with birdie on the following hole. An
eagle at the par 4, 433-yard eighth moved
Cunningham to 2-under. Another bogey at No. 11
dropped him to 1-under. He would record back-to-
back birdies at Nos. 14 and 15 but bogeyed No.
16 to finish at 2-under 69.
“So honestly it was kind of a casual round,” said
Cunningham. “It wasn’t anything exciting. I just
kept my ball in play and kept hitting a lot of
greens. I think I only missed like 3 or 4 greens
today and my putting was really good. I didn’t
have a lot of opportunities to make birdies, but
when I did, most of the time I capitalized.”
Wood, a sophomore at Duke, carded an eagle and
four birdies but also posted to bogeys and a
double bogey. He moved to 1-under with birdie on
No. 6 but dropped to 1-over par with the double
bogey on the eighth. A birdie at No. 11 was
countered by a bogey at No. 12 to stay at 1-over.
Wood briefly moved into the lead with a birdie-
eagle-birdie stretch beginning at No. 13 but fell to
2-under and the tie for second with a bogey at
No. 18.
Second round action will begin at 10 am off both
the 1st and 10th tees.
ABOUT THE Patriot All-America
The Wigwam and the Golf Coaches Association
of America (GCAA), in partnership with the
Folds of Honor Foundation present the Patriot All-
America Invitational. It's one of the most unique
events
in all of golf.
84 top collegiate players named to the PING All-
America team in NCAA Division I,II and III, NAIA
and
NJCAA, AJGA, one player from each military
academy
and select international players compete in a 54-
hole
championship.
Each player honors our military by carrying a bag
with
the name, rank and service of a fallen or severely
wounded soldier embroidered on the pocket.
Following
the championship, the bags go to the players’ school
for auction, with proceeds benefiting the Folds of
Honor.
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