Anthony Manna is giving a bad name to golf lessons.
Not because they haven’t helped him, but because he has never had one and still dropped six strokes off his average while playing for Robbinsville High School.
The Ravens’ junior earned a starting spot midway through his freshman year and averaged a 44. Last season, he improved to 42 and this year shot a robust 38 while finishing fifth in the Mercer County Tournament at Mountain View in West Trenton, and tied for 12th in the NJSIAA Central-South sectional tournament at Charleston Springs Golf Course in Millstone.
“I think I could have done a little better this year, but I’m perfectly fine with how I did,” said Manna, whose 80 at MCT’s left him three strokes out of second and seven off first. “I think I played really good at counties. I took it one shot at a time, knowing there were other good players in my group. I tried to use playing against them as more of a competition to make me more competitive. Playing with those better people gave me a little bit more of a boost in my opinion, and the concentration and the slowing down enabled me to get into that top 10 area.”
As for his state performance, Manna carded an 81, putting him in a four-way tie for 12th place, 12 shots from the medalist.
“It was the same kind of thing as counties,” he said. “It’s a bigger stage, I told my coaches whether I finished first or dead last I would go out there and have fun, enjoy the course and enjoy the day. I got a day off of school, what can be better than that?”
Ravens coach Brian Dempsey felt all things considered, Manna was solid in the season’s biggest events.
“I know his goal was to place at counties, and he did achieve that,” Dempsey said. “As far as states, he really wanted to qualify for the Tournament of Champions and unfortunately his 81 was a couple of strokes off of qualifying. He was happy with the way he played but he had a bunch of par and birdie putts just lip out of the cup.”
It’s all part of a maturation process that started when Manna was the ripe old age of 2-1/2. That’s when his late grandfather, Tony, took him to his first driving range at Hamilton Golf Center. He would also play around on an old chipping mat on the deck of his grandparents’ house.
At age 7, Manna’s dad, Kevin, and Tony took Manna to Peddie, where Tony was a member.
“I played multiple sports, but I found a love for the game of golf right away when I started,” Manna said.
When Tony’s health started to decline, Anthony’s mom, Heather, got into the family affair even though she never golfed. Heather would drive Manna to the course as a youngster and also drive him around on the golf cart at the now-defunct Miry Run.
By age 12, Kevin surprised his son by signing him up for the PGA Junior League, where he played for the team at Princeton Country Club.
“My dad signed me up without me knowing, and at first I was like, ‘Well, what the hell is gonna happen?’” Manna said with a laugh. “But we did well. We won our local league and went to the championship at Royce Brook and lost in the first round. That was my first real competitive experience, and that got me shaped up into playing high school golf.”
Initially, Manna was reluctant to try out for the Ravens and was close to sitting out his freshman year.
“Ultimately, I decided that would have been the wrong choice for me going forward,” he said. “I was worried about regretting it and was coming to realize this is something I might want to take into college if I can.”
During that first year with Robbinsville, Manna discovered high school golf was a whole new world. While his days with Junior PGA helped, he was still dealing with a different environment.
“It was a new experience to take in,” he said. “At first, I was a little anxious and nervous, but over time I started to have fun with it, and it’s something I’ve come to know and love.”
Over Manna’s next two seasons, Dempsey felt the improvement has been impressive.
“Last year, his average for the year was a 42, this year his average was a 38. That’s a big difference,” the coach said. “Usually you see these jumps from people that have much higher averages. As you get closer to par your averages don’t tend to drop as much.”
Especially when they don’t take lessons. Aside from frequent trips to the driving ranges in Hamilton and West Windsor, Manna’s only other work when he is not playing is with the homemade green in his backyard that he practices chipping on. Fortunately, he logs plenty of hours on the course.
“Anthony loves the game,” Dempsey said. “In the summer if he has a day off of work, he is usually playing golf. I know there were a bunch of Sundays this year where he was still going to the course to practice and try to get better. One of the best parts about him is he is still a student of the game. He understands there is always room for improvement and he seems to try and soak up as much knowledge as he can.”
Which is one of the reasons he hits the ball long and accurately off the tee and is strong with his irons on approach shots. His one self-described flaw is with his short game around the green with his wedges and putters.
“That’s something I’ve really tried to work on over the past three years,” he said.
His coach, however, feels for the most part that Manna is solid in all three aspects.
“One of Anthony’s biggest strengths is his consistency,” Dempsey said. “Anyone that has ever played golf knows how frustrating it can be. For me it seems like the days my driver is working well my irons are not. If I am putting well my wedges are off. Rarely is everything working perfectly. For Anthony, he seems to have a very consistent swing that helps him have everything in sync almost all the time.”
Add to that a strong mindset, and it’s easy to see how Manna has made such strides. He has done a good job of being able to put a bad shot or bad hole behind him and focus on what’s ahead.
“That definitely was something I had to work on,” he said. “I would not forget about a bad hole. But as of right now I’ve learned to kind of try to shake it off and tell myself there’s always the next hole, there’s always the next opportunity. Don’t get out of it (mentally).”
Dempsey is impressed by the way Manna handles that, saying, “Anthony is very even-keeled. If he comes in with a high score he isn’t visibly upset. I may see him working on stuff the next day but it doesn’t seem to wear him down as much as it does other players.”
With one season left, the coach feels if Manna continues to improve he has a good shot to contend for a county and state title next year, and has the potential to enjoy a successful college career.
Manna, who is part of RHS’ Special Olympics Project Unified Club, plans to play in more tournaments over the summer and is actually pondering taking lessons with some instructors that his dad knows.
“I mean, lessons could never hurt,” he said.
Anthony Manna starred for Robbinsville High School in golf this season.,
