{"id":10530,"date":"2022-11-16T08:06:00","date_gmt":"2022-11-16T13:06:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/?p=10530"},"modified":"2022-11-07T15:50:27","modified_gmt":"2022-11-07T20:50:27","slug":"new-york-states-golfer-of-the-century-donald-c-allen-60","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/2022\/11\/16\/new-york-states-golfer-of-the-century-donald-c-allen-60\/","title":{"rendered":"New York State\u2019s Golfer of the Century: Donald C. Allen \u201960"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

May 19, 1938 \u2013 June 16, 2022<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Donald C. Allen \u201960 graduated from Colgate as one of the greatest golfers in Raiders\u2019 history, finishing with a collegiate record of 57\u20134. For the Rochester native, it was only the beginning of a career on the putting green that would span five decades, ending with more than 80 tournament wins and 13 course records.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2015, the Democrat & Chronicle <\/em>called him \u201cone of the last truly great amateur golfers.\u201d And he did it while becoming a successful, self-made businessman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After earning a bachelor of arts degree in Russian studies, Allen sold insurance for Connecticut Mutual in downtown Rochester while continuing to hone his skills as a golfer. In 1961, he won the New York State Golf Association (NYSGA) Men\u2019s Amateur Championship. He would win the tournament five more times throughout his career.

During the next six years, he represented the U.S. on two Walker Cup teams and played on two America\u2019s Cup teams. He made three appearances at the Masters Tournament. The Masters invited him for a fourth outing, but he declined the offer because it conflicted with the birth of his first child, the Democrat & Chronicle <\/em>later reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1964, he made the round of eight in the U.S. Amateur. He returned to the event the next two years, placing third in 1965 and sixth in 1966.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Allen was on an unbelievable run of competitive golf.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt can be vociferously argued that this stretch of competitive amateur golf may well be the most dominant and impressive six- year stretch in the history of American golf and in the history of amateur golf,\u201d said the NYSGA Hall of Fame.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Allen was self-taught, polishing his abilities by playing in local, district, and regional events. In describing Allen, the NYSGA Hall of Fame said, \u201cDon Allen grew into adulthood and celebrity for his superior golfing ability a la Ben Hogan, without the benefit of professional instructors.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Allen was a fierce competitor on the course, he was also fair, honorable, and humble, according to his obituary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In several interviews in 1967, he described himself merely as just a local insurance salesman. But by the late 1960s, Allen had launched his own agency. As owner and president of the Don Allen Agency, Inc., he managed the company for nearly five decades. He earned a reputation for his work ethic and an ability to help his employees succeed, according to his obituary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Allen never went pro as a golfer, but he held his own playing alongside the best in the game. After winning the 1970 New York State Amateur golf championship, Allen said, \u201cI\u2019ve never been a great player. I\u2019m not now, and I never will be,\u201d according to the Democrat & Chronicle<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His success, however, told a different story. In 2000, the NYSGA recognized Allen as the New York State Golfer of the Century. He was inducted into the NYSGA Hall of Fame in 2012.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Allen died peacefully at home on June 16. He is survived by his wife, Boots Miller-Allen, his children, and grandchildren.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

May 19, 1938 \u2013 June 16, 2022 Donald C. Allen \u201960 graduated from Colgate as one of the greatest golfers in Raiders\u2019 history, finishing with a collegiate record of 57\u20134. For the Rochester native, it was only the beginning of a career on the putting green that would span five decades, ending with more than<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1272,"featured_media":10535,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,14],"tags":[53,601,1194,368],"coauthors":[1130],"class_list":["post-10530","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-alumni-updates","category-in-tribute","tag-entrepreneurship","tag-golf","tag-new-york-state-golf-association","tag-russian-and-eurasian-studies"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/palXSH-2JQ","amp_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2022\/11\/My-project.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10530","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1272"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10530"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10530\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10673,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10530\/revisions\/10673"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10535"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10530"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10530"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10530"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=10530"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}