His father, determined to raise a new family, would have ten children with his new wife, effectively making Peete the oldest sibling.

Growing up poor, Peete suffered a badly broken arm that was never properly set after he fell out a tree at the age of 12.

Dropping out of school in the eighth grade, he picked vegetables and sold clothes to help feed his family, doing so when he got himself a peddler's license at the age of 17 and loading a 1956 Plymouth Station Wagon.

He learned the game while peddling goods to migrant workers in Rochester, New York in 1966, playing on the public course at Genesee Valley Park when an invitation to a fish fry was actually a trip to a golf course; not having a ride home, he went with "the fool idea" and tried the sport.

He also credited maintaining his balance through swinging the ball as a factor in his control, which he had managed to improve from his earlier years for tempo and rhythm.

[6] In 1979, he won the Greater Milwaukee Open, becoming the fourth black man to win a PGA Tour event after Pete Brown, Charlie Sifford, and Lee Elder.

In the Tournament of Champions, he received a disqualification after forgetting what his score was on a hole, which didn't harm his average and generated a $5,000 fine.

The spring after he was awarded the trophy, the PGA and the PGA Tour installed a new rule that was dubbed by some as "the Cal Peete rule" in governing withdrawals and disqualifications that essentially wanted players who teed up on the first hole to finish the round for a score with no exceptions; any withdrawal or disqualification before a round is completed would mean one would be ineligible for the Vardon Trophy or any statistical category for the year.

In 1999, Peete was formally diagnosed with Tourette syndrome; reportedly, he had been jerking his neck since his childhood along with making noises with his tongue on the roof of his mouth when stressed.