Home-schooled golfer Ambrose Abbracciamento, who lives on the Miry Run course, finds a place on the Robbinsville team.
Robbinsville High golf coach Rich Gildner would take his team over to its home course of Miry Run each day for practice last year, and he would always be struck by one kid he saw playing who looked pretty darn good.
When Gildner asked his team about him they said, “That’s Ambrose Abbracciamento, he lives on the course.”
Gildner, of course, was wondering why he wasn’t playing for the Ravens. When told that Abbracciamento was home schooled, he immediately investigated how to get him on the team.
“This year we went through our athletic director (Curtis Wyers), got in touch with his parents, and we got him on the team because he lives in town,” Gildner said. “It’s definitely benefitting us.”
A golfer like Abbracciamento would benefit any team with the talent he has. The 16-year old was a medalist in all but one dual match for the Ravens this year, and he finished tied for first with Peddie’s Kyle Sterbinsky in the Mercer County Tournament before losing in a sudden death playoff at Mercer Oaks. He also landed a top-five spot in the Central/South Group II tournament, which advanced him to the Tournament of Champions.
Last summer, Abbracciamento shot a 70-79-149 to take a one-shot victory in a Trusted Choice “BIG I” Junior Classic qualifier at Old York Country Club, which earned him a trip to the National Championship at the University of Texas. In that event, he made the cut with ease by carding a 76-73 before shooting a pair of plus-80s in the final two days.
Ambros, who is considered a freshman both eligibility- and classroom-wise, chalked up his 86-85 scores over the weekend to lack of experience.
“I was the third youngest player in the Nationals,” he said. “It was also my first national tournament. The first two rounds I had a clear goal, I wanted to make the cut and I made it by around five strokes. “
From there, he learned a valuable lesson.
“After I made the cut, I didn’t have a goal in mind what I wanted to do in the final rounds,” he said. “It would have been a little unrealistic for me to have wanted to win. What I probably should have done was set a goal of Top 10 or Top 20. Then I would have been more zeroed in for what I wanted to do.
“I didn’t really do that, and that led to some poor rounds. That’s where experience comes in, but I would say I’m a better golfer now from playing those two rounds and understanding what I did wrong. It was still the highlight of my summer and without a doubt I learned a lot in that tournament, playing with some of the best guys in the country. I’m going to try for that again this summer.”
And when he does so, it will be with a more intense focus on a goal, since his mindset works in tandem with his physical gifts.
“I would definitely say it’s a mental thing,” he said. “You don’t want to go to the first hole and not know what you want to achieve. You want to have something you’re aiming for. For me, making the cut after the first two rounds was the goal. In the last two rounds, I wasn’t completely out of it but I was pretty far back and I would say I played aimless golf.”
His aims toward the sport began three years ago.
Despite growing up on the first hole of Miry Run, Abbracciamento’s parents were not into golfing at all. They were more concerned with education, which is why their children were home-schooled.
“Education is very important to my parents,” Abbracciamento said. “They don’t know anything about golf, so it obviously wasn’t so we could play golf. They did it more so for academic reasons.
“I liked it. Obviously I was going to school before playing golf, so that puts things in perspective. But at the time I started playing, it gave me more flexibility in my schedule so I had time to do it.”
Abbracciamento began golfing at age 10, but didn’t start taking it seriously until he was 13.
“I started playing just by walking outside of my backyard and having fun with my brothers and some friends,” he said. “In some ways, it was an advantage that my parents don’t play golf. They never really pushed me and put pressure on me. So I’m playing because I enjoy it, it’s a lot of fun.
“I was also playing tennis, but around 12 or 13, I had to make a decision between the two sports. Though I was better at golf, and I also enjoyed it a lot more. It’s a much more peaceful, social sport. You play with your friends and have fun. My older brother is a very good tennis player, but for me that’s not as enjoyable or relaxing as golf.”
This spring marked a new experience on the golf course for Abbracciamento, as he discovered what it was like to play for a team rather than just for himself. It has benefitted both parties, especially since Robbinsville can now drop a high score from its team score during dual meets (six players play, the lowest score is dropped).
“The county we play golf in is amazing with Hopewell, the West Windsors, Allentown,” Gildner said. “They’re always good. In the past, we’ve had good teams but playing against those guys, we would fall short of that ability to make the team sectionals.
“But this year, having Ambros, instead of keeping a score that might be a 50, we have him shooting a 36. That’s saving us 14 strokes. The guys get excited about that. This was the first year we qualified for the sectional tournament and obviously having a guy like him helps.”
The CJ/SJ Group II sectionals were held on May 13 at the Wildwood Golf and Country Club, and Abbracciamento shot an 81 to finish fourth (the top five individuals advanced). It was an event like sectionals that exemplified how playing for a team helps Abbracciamento.
“I’m getting along really well with my teammates, having a lot of fun,” he said. “(At sectionals) for example, I wasn’t exactly playing my best. Halfway through the round, I wasn’t playing too well and didn’t think I was in contention.
“If it was just me I could have packed it in, but I remembered there were teammates out there and they want and expect me to do well. Playing for them rather than myself gives me encouragement, because you know you have a team to play for.”
In analyzing Abbracciamento’s game, Gildner said nothing completely stands out, as it’s just a solid all-around game.
“In order to score the scores he’s putting up, he has to do everything,” the coach said. “He’s not terribly long off the tee but he’s right down the middle. His short game is good, he can recover from anything. If he hits a bad shot, he’ll put that next shot right next to the hole.”
The golfer himself has definite ideas on what he wants to improve.
“My iron play has been a little spotty,” he said. “It hasn’t been very consistent. (At sectionals) I only hit two or three greens in regulation. I was just lucky I was putting well.
“But if you want to shoot under par or take stress off your short game, you want your iron play to be better. When that happens, it makes every part of your game much better.”
And what’s convenient for Abbracciamento is, whenever he needs to work on that, all he needs to do is walk out the front door.
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