Class of 2018

Robert Sgambati

Bob Sgambati graduated from Mechanicville High School as a member of the class of 1970. He earned eight varsity letters in track, basketball, and golf. He was a member of the varsity club for all four years at MHS. While Bob played three varsity sports, it was golf where he truly excelled. He was a member of the Colonial Council Champs for all four years and was selected for the All Colonial Council Team his junior and senior years. He was a proud member of the 1970 State Championship Golf Team his senior year, as well as earning medalist honors for shooting the best round of any competitor in the Intersectionals Competition in both his junior and senior years. Bob’s golf career at MHS culminated with a State Championship for his school and his Intersectional Team. He also won Medalist Honors for shooting the lowest rounds in the State Championship Competition. After High School, Bob went on to Delhi Tech, where he played both basketball and golf. Bob averaged 68.5 strokes per competition for his golf career at Delhi and was awarded small college All American Honors. He was invited to participate in the small college NCAA Nationals, where he finished in the top twenty in the nation. After college, Bob went on to play in and win many amateur tournaments, both in New York and up and down the east coast. He competed in three consecutive Tri-county Championships (Washington, Warren, and Saratoga) in 72, 73, and 74, and won all three. Also, within a one-month period, he repeatedly set new course records at Mechanicville Golf Club by shooting rounds of 65, 64, and finally 61, which still stands today, forty-five years later, as the lowest round ever at Mechanicville. In the fall of 73, he was offered and accepted the Assistant Pro job at Winding Brook Country Club in Valatia, where he was to start the following spring. Bob was to work for one of the most respected head professionals at the time in George Lorretti, who was the PGA President for New York state. But instead, his golf career was to take a turn, when in the winter of 73 he accepted a job with General Electric and notified Mr. Lorretti of his decision. He worked for G.E. for the following thirty-eight years. After being diagnosed with a set-back, he retired as a Production Specialist and Supervisor in the spring of 2011. Bob married his wife, Debra Ann Sedlacek, whom he met in college, and they’ve been married for forty-four years. They have three wonderful children (Jennifer, Kandra, and Bob) and he’s also the proud grandfather of two rambunctious boys in Braden (who’s six) and Louis (who’s four). Bob and Deb raised their three children in Stillwater, in the home they built themselves on the Sgambati farm. Bob’s brother Anthony, sisters Teresa and Stephanie, Stephanie’s daughter, Bob’s mom and dad, and Deb’s late parents Lou and Connie Sedlacek all have homes on the same property. Bob spends his time now enjoying and looking after his grandson Louis, spending time with family and friends, traveling to Florida to visit his daughter Jen, son-in-law Nate and grandson Braden. He still gets out and enjoys playing golf with his brother Steve and friends. Bob has now taken it upon himself to give back by mentoring some area golf students and conducting golf clinics for some of the area High School golf teams. Lastly, Bob would like everyone to know that golf is the sport of a lifetime. His father introduced him to the game and now he’s playing golf with his son and his grandsons are being introduced to golf by their fathers. It’s a sport where a sixty-five-year-old can still send it and compete with a twenty-five-year-old, only now Bob wears a hat to protect his “follicly-challenged” scalp. But, “Man, he can still send it!”.