McGinty, Romero off to fast starts at Women's Patriot All-America

December 29, 2021 | by Jim Young of AmateurGolf.com

Caley McGinty (Courtesy of Oklahoma State Athletics)

Both golfers card 4-under rounds of 66 to lead the inaugural women's division of the Patriot All-America Invitational

Caley McGinty of Oklahoma State and Kaleiya Romero of Pepperdine share the first round lead at the Patriot All-America Women's Invitational being held at the Wigwam Resort outside of Phoenix.

The two golfers carded 4-under rounds of 66 on the Wigwam's Blue Course on Wednesday and hold a one-stroke lead over Sabrina Iqbal of TCU and Valery Plata of Michigan State, who opened with rounds of 65.

McGinty picked up four birdies for an inward nine of 31 and a round of 66 while Romero made four birdies in a bogey-free round to keep pace with Great Britain & Ireland Curtis Cup team member.

McGinty and Romero have both had their share of success this season.

McGinty, a junior at Oklahoma State, won the Schooner Fall Classic in Norman, Okla. at the end of September and picked up her second win of the fall a few weeks later at the Jim West Challenge in San Marcos, Texas. Romero, a sophomore, won her first event of the season at the Dick McGuire Invitational in Albuquerque, NM, where she defeated BYU's Lila Galeai in a playoff for her first collegiate victory.

🇺🇸 Each year, a member from Veteran Golfers Association is given a special exemption to play in the Patriot.

This year, Robin Stanton is representing the VGA in the inaugural women's field.#PatriotGolfAZ pic.twitter.com/yrM2T5ebym
— Patriot All-America Invitational Golf Tournament (@ThePatriotAllAm) December 29, 2021

Just one off the pace is Plata, last year's Big 10 Player of the Year who won the inaugural Women's Amateur Latin America Championship in November, and Iqbal of TCU, who had four top-10 finishes in the fall.

Five golfers are three back at 2-under while five others sit at 1-under, including Jennie Park of Texas A&M, who had a wild ride around Wigwam on Wednesday with eight birdies, four bogeys and a double. Four of her eight birdies came on the last five holes for an inward nine of 31 and a round of 69.

The Patriot All-America Invitational continues on Thursday with final round play scheduled for New Year's Eve.

The Patriot All-America honors fallen or severely wounded soldiers in partnership with the Folds of Honor Foundation. The golfers receive a golf bag donated by PING Corporation at the event’s opening ceremony emblazoned with the name and branch of service of a fallen or injured military member whom they shall represent. Participants also receive a card with the soldier’s story so they can be familiar with that soldier. The golf bags are then sold with proceeds donated to Folds of Honor to support the families affected.

Results: Patriot All-America Women's

Place	Player	Location	Pts	Scores
1	Valery Plata	, Colombia	700	67-65-66=198
2	Ivy Shepherd	Peachtree City, GA	500	70-64-67=201
3	Ashley Menne	Surprise, AZ	400	70-66-66=202
T4	Natasha Andrea Oon	, Malaysia	400	69-65-69=203
T4	Sabrina Iqbal	San Jose, CA	400	67-69-67=203

View full results for Patriot All-America Women's

About the Patriot All-America Women's

McGinty, Romero off to fast starts at Women's Patriot All-America

The Wigwam and the Women’s Golf Coaches Association (WGCA), in partnership with the Folds of Honor Foundation present the Patriot All- America Women's Invitational. It's one of the most unique events in all of golf. 42 top collegiate players named to...