Wilson Stone stares at the golf ball that has to go 25 feet to the hole. He stoops, squints, moves to one side, takes a look at the shape and cut of the green leading to the hole.

In his head, he measures how much speed it will take to putt the ball to the hole. Then he checks the break in the green.

As he grips his putter and glances down the line one more time, bystanders have to wonder. But with a fine stroke of the putter, the 84-year-old golfers sinks the putt, moving it through a break in the green about 3 feet above the hole.

Wilson Stone was one of the first blacks to play at Avon Field in the early 1940s. (Michael E. Keating photo) | ZOOM |

The bystanders are amazed. Some grimace, while most of them smile.

Mr. Stone, regarded by those who play with him at Avon Field Golf Course as one of the finest local putters, may be putting his way into the National Black Golfers Hall of Fame.

A local group is nominating Mr. Stone, along with one of his playing partners, Percy Marshall, 90, for induction into the Golfers Hall of Fame next year in Greensboro, N.C.

Mr. Stone and Mr. Marshall were among the first African-Americans in the early 1940s to play in North Avondale at Avon Field, the oldest municipal golf course west of the Allegheny Mountains.

Mr. Stone has given putting lessons, but is not sure if he can teach it as well as he can do it.

"I can tell you what I do," he said. "But I don't know how good I can teach. I am a self-taught golfer. I think people who want to be good at golf have to do a certain amount of teaching themselves. You can read books, watch films, watch others play, but that is not you. You have to have the feel, the desire and the will to do it."

But he does recommend to anyone who wants to learn the game to go to a teaching professional.

"You need to learn the game and learn about the rules and regulations. And you need to learn how to practice. How you practice will determine how you play and how good you can get," Mr. Stone said.

Even though he never had a golf lesson, he started caddying when he was 12 years old.

"It was at the Birmingham Country Club and I made 75 cents a day for carrying a bag 18 holes," he said. "But I learned to love the game."

He picked up a few pointers here and there after coming to Cincinnati in 1940. He worked at General Electric as a machine operator for 31 years before he retired.

"I really didn't get serious about golf until 1964," he said.

But the one thing he brought to the game that he thinks helped him to be an exceptional putter was his knowledge of playing pool.

"I was a better than average pool player," he said. "Putting a golf ball and shooting pool are much the same thing. It is all about a rolling ball, figuring angles of contact and speed."

Mr. Stone played golf with the late Jimmy Woods, who was inducted into the National Black Golfers Hall of Fame in 1993.

"It was hard to figure how good Jimmy was because none of us could really challenge him," Mr. Stone said.

Mr. Stone has been a member of the Greater Cincinnati Golfers Club for 25 years.

He has taught kids while working with the club and working with the Jimmy Woods Golf Foundation.

Mr. Stone was born in Birmingham, Ala. He now lives in Silverton. Recently widowed, he is the father of three adult children.