Mark Wood Golf Academy

Ultimate Golf Trivia Question?

Here’s an awesome trivia question, Which player won more PGA tournaments in the Mid 80’s? Now that’s a tough one as you had Nickalus, Watson, Faldo, Seve and Norman…

Think hard before you hear a truly amazing tale of golfing success one that ought to give us all hope and get an answer that will astonish you!

A diamond in the rough

As we have seen, champions aren’t invariably the product of elite country clubs, as was Nicklaus. They don’t always appear from behind the caddie shack, as Zembriski did. They aren’t all schooled in the pressure of gambling at a fast paced municipal course, like Trevino, and they don’t all start at the age of three, like Sandy Lyle, or even two, like the latest phenomenon, Tiger Woods! Sometimes champions have their origins in places you would least expect, but the traits and qualities that enable them to convert their talents from raw coal to fine diamonds remain the same.

Calvin Peete was born in Pahokee, Florida, one of the poorest, least attractive, beat up little towns on the planet! Surrounded by swampland, Pahokee is the reason that the State bird of Florida is the mosquito. There were no less than, count them, 19 children in the Peete household. With very little option, Calvin dropped out of school in the 8th grade to pick fruit and bring in a little more money to help the family survive. At 18 he bought an old station wagon and went into business for himself. He drove up and down the rural areas of the East Coast, selling clothes and a variety of other goods to migrant farm workers. In an effort to express his individuality, Peete had diamonds inserted into his front teeth. The people with whom he traded knew him simply as “the diamond man.”

At the age of 23, never having played or caddied in his life, and with no desire to learn, a couple of friends coerced him into playing a round of golf with them. He was instantly hooked on the game and although he seemed initially to have no real aptitude, he decided he was going to become a golf pro. For the next five years he practiced every spare minute he could find, continuing to hit practice shots each night, after dark, on floodlit baseball fields.

It took Peete less than two years to become a scratch golfer, and he turned pro three years later. Not content with teaching others or looking for a club job, he decided he wanted to play on the PGA Tour. It took him three attempts to make it, but eventually, at 32 years of age, he graduated from Q-school and received his player’s card. For three more difficult and discouraging years, Peete didn’t win enough money to meet his travel expenses. His wife, a teacher, supported both of them and their family of four children. Finally, in 1979, he entered the ranks of tournament champions by winning the Milwaukee Open. He followed with three straight years of earnings in excess of $100,000. Although he was never renowned for his power, he led the PGA Tour in driving accuracy, and, in 1984, won the Vardon Trophy, awarded to the player with the lowest stroke average for the season. Before long he had joined the elite group of players with over two million dollars in career earnings and at least 10 Tour victories — 12 to be exact. 11 between 82-86!

This notable level of success was achieved by a man born into abject poverty, who broke his left elbow in a fall as a boy and was partially crippled as a result of poor corrective surgery, which caused his left elbow to be permanently locked in one position.

Follow your dreams; they may come true!

From Your Friends at Mark Wood Golf Academy

PS. Come down and tee it up to make some magic moments of your own. Check our website at 

www.markwoodgolfacademy.co.uk

Mark Wood

PGA Advanced Professional
UK’s No1 Golf Coach

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