🏌🏾 Pine Hills native named first Black golf Long Drive World Champion

ORLANDO, Fla. – Pine Hills native, Maurice Allen spends a lot of time on the golf course.

“It’s a lot of problem solving. For me it’s an opportunity to really challenge myself. I go out everyday with an objective, connect with my body, figure out what I was doing wrong yesterday,” said Allen. “What got me introduced to golf was my dad as a kid.”

It wasn’t until after Allen graduated from FAMU and became a chiropractor, that he went pro fulltime.

That decision didn’t come without challenges being a Black man in a predominately white sport.

“I’ve always known I belong because I was good enough. There were a lot of instances where I felt uncomfortable. There were instances where I can say I wasn’t given my just due,” said Allen. “The first competition I ever went to, ironically, was in North Florida... It’s not a very progressive place traditionally, but I had one of the warmest receptions in my life at that place. When I stepped outside of that, competing in Augusta and a couple middle-of-nowhere places in the US and I’ve gotten as far as receiving death threats, so my road in golf was an interesting one.”

[TRENDING: 85-year-old attacked, killed by alligator in Florida while walking dog | Woman in motorized scooter spotted along I-4 in downtown Orlando | The berry-interesting history behind the Florida Strawberry Festival | Become a News 6 Insider]

In 2018, Allen would become the first African American World Long Drive Champion, ranking number one in the world twice in the Long Drive golf event.

“Long Drive is similar to the homerun derby in baseball, or slam dunk contest in basketball. It is how far you can hit a golf ball off a tee. It’s the most celebrated part of the game and they created a sport out of it,” said Allen.

Allen’s longest drive is 483 yards and he has a lengthy winning record with 45 wins and 110 top ten finishes, winning in every continent except Africa, according to Allen.

“I’ve seen a lot of things happen to me just because I was the only black person in the sport and I was successful. I think it was a combination of seeing something different and the success I was having, that caused people to really show their insecurities and the easiest way they could do it was based on my ethnicity. It had nothing to do with how I was playing or what I was saying,” said Allen.

So why aren’t there a lot of minorities in golf? Allen said Golf can be seen as a high-end sport, with expensive clubs and fees for practice on a good course which historically has limited access to certain group based on social class.

“It was a game that was made for kings and queens, it wasn’t made for commoners. If you look at minorities, we were always under the common label... does that mean we can’t enjoy it,” said Allen.

Through community programs like the Orlando Minority Youth golf Association, Allen is exposing inner-city youth to the game of golf while also teaching life skills and boosting confidence.

“I feel more proud of the impact I’ve had in the people’s lives I’ve come across than trophies and rings. It’s really about how many lives you can change. That’s what means more to me than anything else,” said Allen. “I think the game of golf right now, has grown in diversity in leaps and bounds, what I really hope for the future is the appreciation of minorities in the game.”

Allen is preparing for another season of Long Drive competitions and hopes his legacy will inspire others.

“Hopefully it drives people to be better. Hopefully it shows people that not all black people have to have the story of being poor and in destitute and we come from broken homes.... I just hope to inspire people to live life unapologetically,” said Allen.

INSIDER EXTRA: In 2019, Allen was the first person to ever successfully hit a golf ball over the horseshoe at Niagara Falls.

“It was a campaign I did with Avis. They brought it to my attention that it hadn’t been done. They used drones to get video... Guinness World Record wouldn’t deem it an official world record, even though the first person who attempted it - who was white - if he would have successfully done it, they would have deemed it as a world record,” said Allen.

Allen drove the ball more than 400 yards on his fourth attempt to cross Niagara Falls from the Canadian side to the American side of the park.

In 2005, professional golfer John Daly attempted the drive in front of thousands of spectators, media and Guinness World Record officials but was unsuccessful.

Driving a golf ball across Niagara Falls is now illegal, according to Allen, but he is pushing for some recognition for his accomplishment and a plaque at Niagara Falls commemorating the record.

You can listen to every episode of Florida’s Fourth Estate in the media player below: