
JOYE
MCAVOY-SINN
ATHLETE
GOLF
CLASS OF 2002
Joye McAvoy-Sinn was a fine CPGA golfer in the 1990s who achieved considerable success in Canadian Amateur and NCAA competition. In the 1990s, she won the Ontario Junior, Amateur, and Match Play titles and the Canadian Interprovincial Championship.
McAvoy was born in Montreal on October 16, 1967. She moved to Windsor with her family when she was five years of age and went on to attend Sandwich Secondary School, where she played basketball and badminton.
McAvoy was introduced to golf at age 10 when she accompanied her father to a local driving range. She took to the game quickly and played her first proper round of golf at Canard Valley Golf Club, now Fox Glen. Eventually, McAvoy became a member Hydeaway Golf Club, where she practiced under owner Nick Panasik. He remained McAvoy’s coach until 1990, when she turned professional.
McAvoy entered her first tournament at age 13: the 1980 Buick Pro/Junior at Toronto’s Islington Golf Club. The competition was contested by threesomes, which each included a professional, a male junior, and a female junior. McAvoy played with Windsor professional Bob Panasik and fellow junior Mike Dean. Before long, she achieved her first tournament victory at the Royal Arcanum Junior Girls event at Windsor’s Twin Oaks Golf Club.
By 1983, McAvoy was the fifth ranked junior golfer in Canada. She finished third at the Canadian Junior Championship that year. In 1984, McAvoy’s career took off. At the age of 16, she became the fourth youngest golfer ever to play in an LPGA event (the Canadian Du Maurier Classic). She finished second at the Canadian Junior Championship and third at the Canadian Amateur Championship, both in Calgary.
McAvoy began to represent her country in that same year. She played for Team Canada at the United States Junior Championship in Seattle, the United States Western Junior Championship in Wisconsin, and the World Junior Championship in Cali, Colombia.
In 1985, McAvoy won the Ontario Junior Championship and ascended to number three on the Canadian Junior rankings. Appropriately, she finished third at the Canadian Junior Championship. McAvoy won the Canadian Interprovincial Championship as a member of Team Ontario, and finished sixth as an individual at the World Junior Optimism Tournament in San Diego. Her strong play earned her a full athletic scholarship to the University of Miami.
In 1986, McAvoy won a second Ontario Junior Championship and became the number two ranked junior in Canada. She finished ninth at the Canadian Amateur Championship, and represented Team Canada at the British Amateur Match Play Championship. In NCAA Play, McAvoy finished the season in seventh place while golfing for the second place team.
McAvoy won the Ontario Amateur Championship in 1987, which was held in Windsor at Essex Golf and Country Club. She won another Canadian Interprovincial Championship, and rose to sixth place in the NCAA rankings.
1988 saw McAvoy capture the Ontario Match Play Championship and she became the top-ranked amateur golfer in Canada. She finished second at both the Canadian and Ontario Amateur Championships and represented her country at the World Amateur Championship in Sweden and the British Amateur Match Play Championship in Southampton, England. In NCAA play, McAvoy was named an Academic All-American and was an honourable mention at the full All-American honours.
The next year, McAvoy repeated her Academic All-American feat and returned to the British Amateur Match Play Championship, this time held in Liverpool. She won a third Canadian Interprovincial Championship.
McAvoy turned professional in 1990 and immediately finished second at the Canadian Ladies Professional Championship. She was bettered by Cathy Sherk, an LPGA Tour player. She finished 11th at the same tournament in 1995, third in ’96, and was the Low Club Professional in ’97. She won the Ontario Ladies Professional Championship in ’92. In ’96, she finished second at a Du Maurier Series Tournament held at Essex and was named Southwest Ontario Ladies Professional of the Year. McAvoy finished her CPGA career in ’99.
In 1995, McAvoy completed a five-year apprenticeship program to gain certification as a Club and Teaching Professional. She took a position as a Teaching Pro at Sandwich West Driving Range, where she still worked at the time of her induction.




