At age 89, Percy Marshall still frequents Avon Field Golf Course. It's a course he first played in 1943 and it's where he made his first two holes-in-one, at age 72.

With the clubhouse in the background, Daryl Holly putts as playing partner Charles Clay holds the pin. (Craig Ruttle photo) | ZOOM |

        Marshall is one of many regulars who have frequented the course for decades, whether to play or just to watch and feel a part of the place.

        “I would say, of all our courses, it holds more tradition and a more loyal clientele than any other course,” said Steve Pacella, director of golf operations for Kemper Sports, which manages Avon Field for the Cincinnati Recreation Commission.

        Open since 1914, Avon Field is the oldest public golf course west of the Alleghenies. Generations of golfers remember it as the first course they played — particularly African-Americans, who were excluded from many other courses around the city — and retain an affinity for the quirky course.

        With a maximum of 4,963 yards, Avon Field looks like a pushover on paper. But figure in a par of just 66, the hilly terrain and old-school design, and the course's difficulty becomes more apparent.

        Old trees loom large, and the small, slick, push-up greens deflect imperfect approach shots. This always has been a shot-makers' course, according to Ron Dumas, who grew up playing Avon Field and is the assistant pro at Reeves Golf Course.

        “You get out of the fairways, and you learned how to hit off sidehill lies and downhill lies,” Dumas said. “It's funny, when I first came to (Reeves), I didn't know how to play here — it was too flat.”

        Designed in an era when the ball flew shorter and fewer people played, Avon Field is tight, as well. Out-of-bounds is within 20 feet of some greens, and only a few paces separate some tees from greens.

        That proximity made an impact on WXIX-TV (Channel 19) sportscaster Dan Hoard, who played his first round of golf in Cincinnati in the mid-1990s at Avon Field. A ball blew across a green and struck Hoard in the leg as he waited on a tee box.

        “My anger was building, and I was turning to get ready to scream and yell at whoever hit the ball,” Hoard said. “But when the person came up over the hill, it was (former Red) Dave Parker. I was ready to say, "Sorry, Mr. Parker, for getting in the way of your ball.'”

        Avon Field was a thrice-weekly habit for perhaps the city's most legendary golf figure, the late Jimmy Woods. The practice center adjacent to the course is named for Woods.

        “When I caddied for Jimmy (in the '60s), it was totally different,” Dumas said. “Then, they took dirt from the I-71 construction and filled in some of the hills. It used to be really hilly and a much tougher course.”

        Guide to Tristate courses and complete local golf coverage

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