Calvin Peete

Gordon Hobson

doi:10.5771/9781538186862

Summary

The first-ever biography of an overlooked PGA star and one of the best Black golfers in history.

His story is unprecedented in the world of golf. Born to a family of migrant laborers, Calvin Peete dropped out of school in the eighth grade, went to work picking crops, first swung a golf club at the age of 23—and rose to the top of the PGA.

In Calvin Peete: Golf's Forgotten Star, Gordon Hobson tells for the first time Peete’s incredible story. Hobson recounts how, when Peete joined the lily-white PGA tour in 1976, he stood out from the competition in more ways than one. Peete wasn’t raised in country clubs and didn’t learn the game at prestigious golf universities. He sported a huge Fu Manchu, cowboy boots, and had diamonds embedded in his teeth. Peete had a permanently bent left elbow and practiced endless hours in a public park to develop one of the most accurate swings in the history of golf. He endured years of futility and despair, but, eventually, he emerged as the best player on the Tour from 1982-86.

Calvin Peete’s story is inspiring, but it also reveals the struggles many Black golfers endured even after the Caucasian-only clause was removed from the PGA’s bylaws. He may have won twelve championships, played on the US Ryder Cup team twice, and won the prestigious Vardon Award, but the road to success wasn’t easy. Calvin Peete: Golf’s Forgotten Star shows how, even without the advantages some people are born into, one can find success through hard work, determination, and fortitude.

Keywords

Search publication

Bibliographic data

Publication year: 2024
Publication date: 06.02.2024
ISBN-Print: 978-1-5381-8685-5
ISBN-Online: 978-1-5381-8686-2
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham
Language: English
Pages: 166
Product type: Book Titles

1. CONTENTS No access
2. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS No access
3. PREFACE No access
1. A TOUGH START, A HARD FALL, AND AN UNLIKELY INTRODUCTION TO GOLF No access Pages 1 - 6
2. NOT HERE FOR A TROPHY No access Pages 7 - 12
3. GOLF’S DISGRACEFUL HISTORY No access Pages 13 - 18
4. IF AT FIRST YOU DON’T SUCCEED, TRY, TRY, TRY, TRY AGAIN No access Pages 19 - 24
5. NICE TO MEET YOU, JACK No access Pages 25 - 32
6. THE MASTERS No access Pages 33 - 40
7. A JOURNEYMAN NO MORE No access Pages 41 - 50
8. CALVIN, IF YOU HAVE A MINUTE . . . No access Pages 51 - 62
9. THE RYDER CUP No access Pages 63 - 72
10. THE VARDON AWARD No access Pages 73 - 80
11. NOT A “B” MOVIE No access Pages 81 - 92
12. SUN CITY No access Pages 93 - 98
13. FATHER TIME No access Pages 99 - 104
14. SHOAL CREEK No access Pages 105 - 108
15. TIGER WOODS No access Pages 109 - 114
16. LEGACY No access Pages 115 - 118
EPILOGUE No access Pages 119 - 122
GLOSSARY OF GOLF TERMS No access Pages 123 - 124
NOTES No access Pages 125 - 144
BIBLIOGRAPHY No access Pages 145 - 156
INDEX No access Pages 157 - 164
ABOUT THE AUTHOR No access Pages 165 - 166