Ames was born in San Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago and is of English/Trinidadian Portuguese descent, and much of his family resides in the Caribbean nation. His grandmother was Trinidad and Tobago Champion 20 times. He grew up in Pointe-a-Pierre and learned to play at the Petrotrin Pointe-a-Pierre Golf Club. Ames's golfing talent developed early in life, assisted by support and discipline from his father, Michael. In his Hoerman Cup debut at the age of 16 in 1980, he smashed the course record at Sandy Lane, Barbados with a six-under-par total of 66.