Michael Allen (1959– ) has been a member of The Olympic Club since 1974. He was a mainstay on the Junior golf team, which won the Bay Cities League Championship four times in five years, from 1975 to 1979.
Club members Johnny Swanson, Dr. Jack Luceti and Dr. John Morgan were among his early golfing influences. Allen fondly remembers Ray Pellegrini, who “was always so enthusiastic and happy for me.”
Allen attended the University of Nevada, and won the Nevada State Amateur Championship in 1983. That same year he won the Northern California Golf Association Amateur Championship, and was awarded medalist honors at the San Francisco City Championship. He turned pro in 1984.
He initially played on the South African and Asian Tours, then on the European Tour from 1986–1989 and 1992, and on the Nationwide Tour from 1997–2001 and 2003. He competed on the PGA Tour from 1990–95, 2002 and 2004–2012. From 2009 through 2012, he played on both the PGA and Champions Tours. To date, Allen has won 11 pro events including the 1989 Scottish Open.
Allen credits Ken Venturi, a fellow OC Hall of Famer, and his coach, Mike Mitchell, for improving his training, swing mechanics and mindset. The result: the transformation of his career, culminating in a special invitation to play at the 2009 Senior PGA Championship on the Champions Tour.
In his first event as a senior pro, he won by two strokes with an unbelievable birdie in the final round on the 220 yard, par three 17th hole. “It was one of the best shots I ever hit,” he says of the uphill shot. “I finally got a good one right when I needed it.” Allen remains a competitive force on the Champions Tour, winning the 2016 Bass Pro Shops Legends of Golf in April. He finished fifth at this year’s U.S. Senior Open.
Allen achieved a lifelong dream when he qualified for the U.S. Open at The Olympic Club in 2012. It was an exclamation point in the midst of a great career; he tied for 56th and enjoyed a week of celebration with family, friends, fellow members and the media.
