Calvin Peete and the Color Barrier

Filed in archive Golf News on August 31, 2007

Courtesy: Nate Oxman
Raise your hand if you remember Calvin Peete.

Peete was the black golfer who had a handful of years on the PGA Tour that were stellar.

He had a big toothy grin, a quiet dignity and a crooked left arm, the result of falling out of a tree and breaking it when he was a young boy.

His family didn't have the financial means to have it mended properly, so Calvin grew up with a left arm that formed a perpetual "L" shape.

And he played golf that way. If there was any further evidence needed that there are many ways to swing a golf club and make pure contact, Calvin Peete's golf swing is that proof.

His tee shots were like arrows from an archer's bow: straight and true. He wasn't the longest guy on tour in the late 70s and early 80s but he was always on the short grass and he sure won a lot of money.

Just as quickly as he "burst" onto the golf scene, he seemed to vanish.

But he's still active in the game as a teacher.

My colleague and business associate, Robert Thompson interviewed Peete recently and asked him why there aren't more black players in the game today, especially with Tiger Woods representing the pinnacle of perfection.

It's an interesting question for which Peete doesn't have a ready answer.

Whether it's a cultural issue or something else, the cost factor perhaps, the fact remains that there are very few black players in the game.

At a time when our North American cities are truly international in backgrounds, our golf courses and country clubs are still populated by Caucasians.

There's more on Peete's efforts to make golf accessible to minorities in this article from allaroundphillygolf.com.