Calvin Peete obit

Calvin Peete, ex-golfer, dead at 71

He was not on the list.

As he talked about the death of his good friend, golfer Calvin Peete, Fort Myers' Richard Gilstad had to pause a couple of times and compose himself.

"Sad to see a great man go," Gilstad said after playing a round at Fort Myers Country Club on Thursday morning. "The dignity with which he carried himself. One of the coolest things he ever said to me was, 'I never played golf for money. I had $500 in my pocket at 15. I may not have been proud how I got it. ..."

Peete, 71, who taught himself how to play golf in his early 20s and then became the most successful black player on the PGA Tour before the arrival of Tiger Woods, died Wednesday morning.

The cause of death hasn't been reported.

"He was a pretty private guy," said Gilstad, who said he talked to Peete about three weeks ago. "Over the last several years, I never could get him to talk about (his health). He just said he was getting better, stronger, chipping a few balls."

SOUTHWEST FLORIDA WAS HOME

Peete won all 12 of his PGA title while residing in Southwest Florida from 1979-86. For his career, he had 73 top-10 finishes in 344 events. He tied for third in the 1982 PGA Championship and tied for fourth in the 1983 U.S. Open.

"Why he's not in the golf Hall of Fame," Gilstad said before breaking up again. "That's what golf and sports are all about."

John Santini, who echoed those sentiments, also agreed with Gilstad that Peete brought big-time professional golf to Southwest Florida.

In 1982, he, Fuzzy Zoeller (the 1979 Masters champ), Gilstad, then a head pro, and Charlie Knowles, director of golf, played in a Skins Game at The Forest that drew 5,000 fans.

"It created an 'it' factor," Santini said. "There were a number of private country clubs in this area, but that Skins Game was a big deal."

Peete headlined a pro-am with Coca-Cola at Fiddlesticks in 1985, and Santini remembers Jack Nicklaus flying in on his private jet. In 1987, FILA and ESPN televised a golf tournament at Fiddlesticks.

"Calvin used to practice at the club quite a bit," said Bobby Nichols, a Fiddlesticks resident who won the PGA Championship in 1964. "He always was welcome and I think he enjoyed himself.

"He was a good ambassador."

When Peete won the Tournament Players Championship in 1985, Gilstad remembers one of the first things he said when interviewed was, "Hello Fiddlesticks.

"He brought a notoriety that certainly wasn't here before," Gilstad said.

AN AMAZING LIFE

Peete's life unfolded like a movie screenplay. His path to a successful PGA career was a true underdog story full of obstacles.

It's not just that he became the fourth black player to win on the PGA Tour, joining pioneers Pete Brown, Charlie Sifford and Lee Elder. He didn't start playing until age 24 and wasn't a regular member of the tour until he was 32.

He couldn't extend his left arm fully after falling from a tree and breaking his elbow as a youth. He also had a form of dyslexia as well as Tourette Syndrome, a neurological disorder characterized by repetitive, stereotyped, involuntary movements and vocalizations called tics.

"He found out about the Tourettes later in life," Gilstad said. "And to him, everything is opposite. Right is left and up is down.

"Try playing with that."

Born July 18, 1943, in Detroit, Peete used to pick beans and corn in the fields in Florida to make money for his family. He eventually financed a station wagon from which he sold vegetables and other goods.

He wasn't interested in golf, even at the prodding of friends. Finally at age 23, he hit his first golf ball at Genessee Valley Golf Course in Rochester, N.Y.

At age 24, after playing nine holes, he told his friends he thought he could be a pro.

Within six months, he was breaking 80. and A year later, he was breaking par.

Despite his late start, Peete played his way to being the best in the world, although there weren't rankings at the time. In 1982, he won four events in a 3½-month period. He captured the Vardon Trophy over Nicklaus in 1984 while he played on two Ryder Cup teams. Of his 12 wins, 11 were by two shots or more.

Peete led the PGA Tour in driving accuracy for 10 straight years starting in 1981. "The only time he left the fairway was to answer the phone," Nichols joked.

Fort Myers County Club director of golf Rich Lamb said Peete often hit balls there. In 1984, he and Zoeller played in the Pabst (now Coors Light Open).

"This place was jumping," Lamb recalled. "It's probably the biggest crowd we've ever had."