ESTERO, Florida – The highlight of Estero Country Club member Joe McAvoy’s amateur golf career had been a second place finish in the senior club championship in 2015. Unlike most feel-good golf stories, there just aren’t a lot of trophies, plaques or ribbons displayed in his home adjacent to the 15th fairway at the 18-hole par 72 course in the gated, golf community known as The Vines.
The retired auto industry executive from the Pontiac, Michigan area, who celebrated his 89th birthday on June 24, moved to Florida full-time in 2008 to pursue his passion of playing as much golf as his body and weather conditions permit, which in his case is over 200 rounds annually. According to the National Golf Foundation, McAvoy qualifies by definition as an avid golfer, or someone who plays 25 or more rounds of golf per year. In reality, he’s an avid golfer times 10!
Joe McAvoy has a very special golf room in his home that is filled with scorecards. They are scorecards going back 20-plus years and documented with rounds played, courses played, people he played with, scores, including notes about birdies or eagles and other noteworthy things that happened on the course. Right now, you’re probably thinking what’s the big deal?
The big deal is Joe McAvoy has proof that he has shot his age or better over 2000 times in his career so far, and he plans to keep shooting his age for many more years. According to records from the Guinness Book of World Records, the feat of shooting one’s age or lower has been achieved by Mike Barber, with 1,266 rounds as of March 2024. https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/most-times-for-a-golfer-to-score-their-age-and-below
On Friday October 17, Estero Country Club head pro Andrew Plesz and a group of golfing buddies – Mark Miller, Chase Lyons, David Reese and John Side – hosted a surprise party to honor his special achievement. They presented McAvoy with words of high praise and several plaques to recognize the unique accomplishment…