He’s the golfer who taught himself how to swing a golf club using Ben Hogan’s book before winning 12 PGA Tour events
Over the history of golf, we’ve seen some of the best golfers in the world dominate and win on the PGA Tour in different eras and in the main, they all have different nuances in their golf swing and game in general.
Dominant forces like Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods are very much needle movers who are on pretty much everyone’s Mount Rushmore of golfers.
However, behind those superstars and the more than 30 major wins between them, there are stories of golfers who have found their own path in the game and still had success.
On that note, it’s worth looking at 12-time PGA Tour winner, Calvin Peete.
How Calvin Peete taught himself to play golf and won 12 times on the PGA Tour
For most players, winning just a single time on the PGA Tour would be enough.
And for most players, going in search of something extra in the game, as well as simply learning it in the first place, would require a bunch of coaching, lessons, and information from experienced heads in the game.
However, for the legendary Calvin Peete, golf was a game he taught himself.
Peete is well known for learning the art of the golf swing from simply reading Ben Hogan’s book, ‘Five Lessons’. Indeed, according to golf book author Pete McDaniel, Peete adapted to learning the game by simply putting that information from Hogan into practice.
“He learned everything he needed to know about the importance of the grip, the importance of posture, an athletic posture, all of the stuff that he needed to learn, pronation, supination, all that stuff,” McDaniel said.
“He was able to absorb it, took it to the practice range, and he beat balls, and he beat balls, and he beat balls, and he developed his own golf swing.”
In terms of wins, Peete never managed to win a major, with his best effort coming with a tie for third at the 1982 PGA Championship.
Nevertheless, Peete won a number of high profile events, including the Texas and Phoenix Opens, and the highly-respected Tournament Players Championship in 1985.
Who was Calving Peete?
Calvin Peete was a professional golfer born in Detroit, Michigan, in 1943. He is the father to seven children, from two marriages. Peete sadly passed away in 2015 at the age of just 71 from lung cancer.
He turned professional in 1975 after realising golf was the game for him while waiting for friends one day and agreeing to rent some golf clubs ahead of a round.
Peete went on to win 12 times on the PGA Tour, adding another two wins on the Japan Tour.
Peete is widely regarded by many as a trailblazer for the sport and is considered the most successful African-American golfer prior to the emergence of Tiger Woods in the 1990s.
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