100 YEARS OF HISTORY
Golf In Dunany
by Mary Sutherland
The Dunany Country Club has begun the celebrations for its 100th Anniversary. This nine-hole golf club has been of prime importance to my family and our history. My parents met in Dunany.
The Dunany area was settled in the mid-1800s by the Irish. These immigrants tried to farm the rocky Laurentian Shield carving small farms out of the forests. The area had already been logged but still, trees were everywhere. Small patches of land were cleared but it was subsistence farming at best. The four small lakes brought fishermen and cottagers to the area early in the 20th century. A post office was established in 1853 and it was called Dunany. The name came from a point of land in County Louth, on the east coast of Ireland.
My paternal grandparents, William and Minnie Sutherland first travelled to Dunany to visit friends, the McRobies. The long journey from Montreal, required a car, a train and a horse and cart, so one stayed a few days. Grandfather Sutherland really enjoyed the country so he bought property and built a cottage on Boyd Lake.
No one thought about golf until Catherine Campbell challenged her friend, Kit McRobie to a game around the pastures and fields, so golf came to Dunany. A group of 20 people, including my grandfather, contributed money to buy some land and in 1922 the Dunany Country Club was born.
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1925 - Dory, Beth, Don & cousin Helen Sutherland & Nat Boyd
1924 - Wilson Sutherland (Great Uncle) Putting
When my maternal grandfather Rene Raguin and his wife Beatrice decided to buy a country house in 1931, he too looked in Dunany. One evening, the Sutherlands visited the Raguins at their Black Lake cottage. Mrs. Raguin and Mrs. Sutherland knew each other through the United Church Women. My mother was ten and she and her sister Manny were sent to bed but spied on the visitors and their 15-year-old son Donald. With the age difference, Dorothy and Donald didn't see much of each other until they met again at a dance at the clubhouse after the war. Two years later they married.
1948 - Dorothy and Don Sutherland
All family members at least tried golf. My grandmothers were not taken by the game but most other family members persevered. Some even became very good players.
My father always lamented that he didn't have proper lessons because his father taught him, so he made sure we were taught by the visiting pro. My mother often took the four children over to the club so she could play. The well-behaved children could hit balls while those misbehaving had to sit on a bench and wait for the hole to be finished.
Four members of the family have had holes in one. William Sutherland aced a hole that is no longer in play. He stationed his brother on a hill with a view of the green and after he hit, all Wilson said was, “It's in.” Isn't that the point of the game! My mother Dorothy aced the fourth hole after my father said, “Your mother just doesn't hit the ball like she used to.” Her ball landed at the side of the green, bounced on and rolled in. My brother Don and I have each also aced a hole.
The rough pastures and sand greens gradually evolved to smoother fairways and grass greens. The course grew from a couple of holes to a full nine. The layout of the course kept evolving. Finally, even sand traps were added. The trees have grown and some fixture trees have been cut down. The fairways are still not perfect but there are preferred lies.
The club continues to be the centre of the community. Mine isn't the only family who found love in Dunany and so most people are related to somebody. Children who grew up and moved away have now returned and bought cottages. When you meet someone new you ask, “Whose house do you live in?” They think it is theirs but the spirit of all the old Dunanyites continues to live on.
1959 - Mary the Golfer