From WCTV.tv

Tallahassee, FL – Maurice Allen carries about a dozen clubs to the golf range. They’re mostly drivers because those clubs have driven him to the top.

“I’m doing the long drive tour right now,” said Allen, a FAMU alum. “Doing very, very well. Sitting 10th in points standing so far this year.”

Allen, who ran track at FAMU, is a professional long driver.

“It’s wierd. It’s wierd,” Allen said. “I’m still starstruck by it. I’m still getting used to the whole thing.”

He discovered he had this ability two years ago.

“My friend Steve Harrison, who used to own Golf Xcetterra around here, bet me that I wasn’t athletic enough to hit a golf ball, not knowing that I grew up around the game of golf,” Allen said. “And I hit a 7-iron about 230 yards.”

Allen’s swing generates power with record-breaking club speed. He once topped 161 miles per hour. His shot averages about 370 yards.

“Not even close to a technique,” he said. “I just figure stuff out as I go along.”

His swing may not be technically sound, but his style is just as sharp.

“Swag is everything. You can’t do anything without style,” he said.

This September, Allen will captain the U.S. Long Driving team.

“I just can’t wait until Mexico and then get ready to go to the Long Drive Championships,” he said. “So, just getting ready, man. Big season coming up.”

This past weekend was the beginning of the long drive season for 2012. There were two events that took place in Mesquite Nevada. The dessert launch is an event where five spots for the 2012 Remax world long drive championships are up for grabs. The competition started with two days of qualifying which are Thursday and Friday. Between the two day of qualifying there were 360 attempts to become apart of the 36 man field for Saturday’s event. I qualified for Saturday’s event at Thursday’s morning qualifier with a drive of 420 yards. In the main event on Saturday I was in the winners bracket until round five where a suffered a loss that placed me in the losers bracket. Once in the losers bracket I regained focus for the next two rounds with drives of 385 and 389 into a 10-15mph head wind. I earned my spot to worlds in the last round by beating my competition by 20 yards. Also this past weekend marked the beginning of the LDA tour with the mesquite shootout. In this event once again I was in the winners bracket until round 5 before a loss placed me into the losers bracket yet again. After two rounds the losers bracket I was able to battle fatigue to finish ninth. This finish earned me 400 points toward the LDA tour championship in September. I would like to thank all of my sponsors Bang Golf, Volvik, PX3 mouth wear, Sligo wear, and Black widow. Lastly I would like to th
ank you all for supporting me and me long drive career.

The white sign with “Big Dawg” painted in red sits 318 yards away. Maurice Allen, wearing white pants, black shirt and white hat, pushes a pink tee into the ground and picks up his white-shafted driver with the gleaming dark blue head.

Allen begins his swing. The club head climbs the clock face, as golfers call it. Starting at 6 p.m. it goes past nine, past 12, past 3 –  when will he stop? –  until it reaches five, almost all the way back around his body.

Then the anger is unleashed. The club begins its journey back around until it punishes the golf ball. The sound is different. It’s a sharp crack with an echo, much different from the thuds and curse words often heard on the driving range. A few of the range rats look up after Allen’s drive. The ball screams into a sky so hazy it’s white, easily clearing the sign, coming to a violent stop in a bank of green kudzu that rests some 20 yards further away.

“How far did that go?” someone asks.

“355, 360,” Allen answers dismissively, unhappy with the rocket-shot anyone else on the range would have traded their new $400 driver for.

http://www.ajc.com/sports/atlanta-golfer-goes-long-1008504.html