Anyone else ever met a guy whos smile made your skin crawl? How to politely avoid him?

Never, ever, ever be polite to a creep like this. To his type, politeness is just a way- and a license- to keep up with the behavior. From him, politeness is how he gains control of women. From the woman, politeness will come across as weakness and/or neediness and label her as a prime target. Tell him straight up what he is- a sleazy creep who wants nothing but to control women and get in their pants. And I would suggest to you and your group to boot him out. Once he sees that his actions are making him unattractive to the others, he will move on.