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DCC 2026 Spring Newsletter
The 2026 DCC Fixture Card is available for all members to consult, where you will find the annual calendar of golf and social events, activities, and sign-up sheets for tournaments. Please refer to the calendar section for up-to-date dates/times; the list portion will be updated shortly.
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President's Report
Welcome to a new season of golf and social events at Dunany Country Club!
After a long winter, it is great to be looking ahead to green fairways and spending time with friends at the Club.
With the approaching Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Saturday, May 30, my 2-year term as President will end. It has been an honour and a privilege to serve alongside our dedicated Board. I would like to thank the Directors for their support, thoughtful engagement, and friendship over this time.
Chris Jackson will be stepping into the role of President. Chris has been a committed and highly engaged member of the Board for the past four years, first as Communications Director and then as Vice President. With his knowledge of the Club’s culture and operations, I am confident the Board’s work will continue to move forward under his leadership.
Alex Sandahl is stepping down from the Board, having served as Treasurer for the past five years. We would like to thank Alex for his steady leadership and for his efforts in reviewing and strengthening our bookkeeping and reporting system over the past year. Alex will continue to serve the greater Wentworth community as a Councillor, and we wish him all the best in this next chapter.
Estelle Willard is concluding her role as Ladies Committee Chair. Estelle’s welcoming and approachable nature, along with her collaborative leadership style, has had a positive impact on both the Ladies Committee and the Club.
Finally, Paul Wilson is wrapping up his term as Past President. Paul began his service on the Board in 2017 as Environment Director. These days, he has his hands full as a dad to future DCC juniors. We are hoping they pick up the game quickly so Paul can get back out on the course!
We are pleased to announce DCC member Laird Bracken has joined us as our new Operations Manager. Laird brings a strong administrative background, with many years of experience managing operations, people, and systems.
In addition, we are fortunate to have a full roster of starters for this season. They are Elizabeth Boucher, Elliott Boucher, Ciaran de Vries-Cruise, and Aidan de Vries-Cruise. The Starter Shack opens for the season on Saturday, May 17, with a weekend only schedule of 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. until regular full-time hours start on Monday, June 23.
In Memoriam
The Club and Dunany community lost a number of members and friends over the past year.
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Mary Chuprun
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Jennifer Glionna
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Alan Morton
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Mirjam Osterman
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Dr. Greg Powell
Their presence will be missed, and they will be remembered by many within our Dunany community. Our thoughts and best wishes are with their families.
A celebration of life for Alan Morton will be held at the Club on Friday, July 31. Alan was a much-loved member of our community and played an important role at DCC, serving for seven years on the Board as Greens Chair. We remain deeply grateful for his friendship and steadfast dedication to our Club.
Looking Forward
As always, the Board has been active over the winter, planning and preparing for the season ahead. We are all looking forward to having everyone back at the Club soon!
Dianne Burk
DCC President
Vice-President and Membership Committee Report
It has been a privilege to work alongside and under the direction of Dianne Burk, whose dedication and determination embodies the volunteer ethos that drives the DCC. She has led this organization with great respect for DCC’s century-plus of tradition along with a clear vision of what it will take for our Club to thrive into the future. The framework she has conceived to rationalize ongoing operations and address future financial needs will stand us in good stead, and forms only a part of her legacy at DCC. I am honoured to have the chance to help bring her vision forward — thank you, Dianne!
Speaking of collaboration, it is terrific to work with the new edition of DCC’s Membership Committee. Doing the heavy lifting of raising awareness of DCC, generating applications, meeting applicants and onboarding new members this season are Vincent Dumais, Lynn Palmer, and Dave Kaufman. This is a dynamic and capable team that is already hard at work; if you know anyone who might be interested in joining the DCC family, please do contact one of our committee members! As usual, a full membership update will be delivered at the 2026 AGM.
More news of note: DCC member Mathieu Castonguay is pursuing a career in the golf industry and has most recently served as an instructor at a Montreal indoor golf facility. Mathieu has just been certified as a golf instructor by the Titleist Performance Institute and will be offering lessons to DCC members on-site this season – individually or in groups – with options for playing lessons, also. Details are still being refined, so stay tuned to take advantage of this fantastic opportunity to improve our games, right here at home!
Though our small army of volunteers and staff are still waiting for the last of the snow to clear to do their thing, it’s not too early to wish you and all members a wonderful 2026 season full of great golf, and to thank you for your support of the Dunany Country Club!
Chris Jackson
VP, Membership Committee
Financial Update
Preliminary results indicate a deficit for fiscal 2025, the second consecutive annual deficit. Revenue was slightly higher than we had budgeted and expenses noticeably higher than budgeted, resulting in an operating deficit of $29.7K. DCC’s actual deficit was greater than our budgeted deficit of $24K by $5.7K. Despite two consecutive years of deficits, we continue to enjoy sufficient cash resources.
The total revenue generated by the Club in 2025 was $388K, which is slightly ahead of our budget of $381.1K and less than the prior year’s actual revenue of $402.1K. Most revenue categories were close to budget except for Social; total revenue from social activities (events and bar) were $106.5K compared to a budget of $99.7K and $109.6K in 2024 – an increase of $6.8K over budget. Expenses, in total, were $424K, which was $12.3K greater than budgeted and $9.5K greater than 2024. Significant budget variances resulted from: Insurance (+ $4.8K); Property and School Taxes (- $5.3K); Social Events (+ $4.7K) and Social Bar (+$8.4K). The bottom line is this year’s deficit of $29.7K, which is unfavorable to the budgeted deficit of $24K. Last year (2024) the deficit was $12.3K.
Having been in a deficit position for the past two years and with another deficit budgeted for 2026 ($8.4K), the Board has decided to increase dues by 10% this year. This aligns us closer to CPI, which has increased by roughly 20% cumulatively since 2020. Directors will do their utmost to manage the budgets and programs to increase revenue. While this is a significant increase in dues year over year, the DCC dues remain considerably lower than most private clubs.
The Club had approximately $110K in cash and GICs at year end. This amount is adequate to meet the operating needs of the club, but there are challenges. We are expecting general increases in many of the prices of supplies for the grounds crew. Global politics have caused an increase in the costs of fuel and fertilizer, two major expense categories for the course maintenance crew. We have also budgeted for an Operations Manager and assistance from an outside accounting firm. As in 2025, the focus on our capital spending has been on grass cutting equipment, with additional sets of cutting reels for the mowers and a zero-turn mower.
Over the next few years, the Board will focus on updating our maintenance buildings. Different funding alternatives are being reviewed, and further information will be provided at our AGM in May. My sincere thanks to Stephanie Logothetis for her efforts as our bookkeeper and to the Board for their continued support.
Alex Sandahl
Treasurer
Spring view from the Greens
The Golf season is nearly here, believe it or not! We welcome back the course maintenance crew of Chris Hart, Amanda Hart, Hayden Hart, and Rob Haldimand in caring for the course we all love, helping make it look so good.
At Chris’ request, we will have two volunteer clean-up days prior to the start of the season. The first one members should mark down will come on Saturday, May 9, from 9am, when we will walk the course to pick up sticks and branches along the tree lines of the fairways. These piles of sticks will be collected by the maintenance crew to be disposed of.
The second will be Sunday, May 17 from 1 p.m., when we tackle the usual chores of cleaning and raking around the Starter Shack, parking entrance, and garden areas. Thank you for your past participation and continued support for these efforts. As with any job, many hands make light work.
On the course, our early plans will focus on levelling off some of the worst tees with the 2nd hole tee to be completed early this spring, which could require use of a temporary tee for the first few weeks of the golf season. A good number of the sand traps have been filled with new golf grade sand, with the rest being filled throughout the summer when some rocks will be removed and some reshaping will be done to make their maintenance easier.
We have also had volunteers working on upgrading the course signage over the winter, led by Duncan Campbell. David Glionna is assembling a team to do some repairs on the water jug stands. We thank them both in advance for these valued efforts.
And as always, please take care of our beloved course when it is open by replacing divots, repairing ball marks, and raking the traps. These individual efforts go a long way in helping and showing support for the crew.
See you all out there.
Michael Cockhill
Greens Director
Match & Handicap
With the start of a new season at DCC on the horizon, we are looking forward to getting back out on the course and seeing everyone again. Here’s an overview of our volunteers leading Match & Handicap this season as we hope for a great summer of golf.
2026 Captains & Committee
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Club Captain – Carl Demers
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Ladies Captains – Barb Campbell, Dianne Vanstone
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Junior Captains – Stephanie Logothetis
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Committee (in addition to captains) – Chantal Robichaud, Mike Cockhill, Stephanie Logothetis, Paul McLeod.
Important Dates
We have a full schedule of events planned, including:
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Season opening tournament: Raguin Leslie – Saturday, June 27
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Club Championship: Ladies is Saturday, August 8 and Sunday, August 9; Juniors is on Monday, August 10 and Tuesday, August 11; the Men’s edition runs over three days from Friday, August 14 to Sunday, August 16.
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Match Play events: sign-up deadline is Sunday, June 21; qualifying rounds to be played on Saturday, June 27 and Sunday, June 28.
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Prizegiving is on Saturday, September 5.
Please refer to the Fixture Card for full details and to sign-up to all events, golf or otherwise.
Reminders
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Enter your scores promptly to maintain fair and consistent handicaps for matches, tournaments.
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Please be mindful of pace of play.
Looking forward to a fun and enjoyable season for everyone.
Carl Demers
Club Captain
Ladies Committee
The Ladies Committee has been at work planning another fun season of events, including:
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The Ladies Committee Opening Meeting in-person at the clubhouse on Saturday, June 20 at 10 a.m.
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The Ladies Invitational Golf and Dinner (hosted by Curran Lake) on Friday, July 17.
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Dunany Ladies Cocktail Party and 50th Quilt Raffle on Saturday, August 1.
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Ladies Committee Closing Meeting on Saturday, September 12.
Please mark these dates on your calendars and keep an eye on the weekly bulletins for signups and calls for volunteer opportunities.
Estelle Willard
Ladies Director
Junior Report
This year is looking to be a record breaking one for DCC Juniors with many new golfers joining, and we are looking forward to welcoming them and sharing our love of golf. If you know of any families with young golfers who might be interested in joining the Junior program and you would be interested in sponsoring them for this opportunity, please email stephanielogothetis@gmail.com.
The 2026 summer will mark the introduction of an exciting new initiative, Junior Golf Camp. This will take place at the course from Monday, July 6 to Friday, July 10, providing juniors with extra exposure to the course and the club. We are aiming to foster a love for the game for many and an introduction to the game to some, including our youngest players.
If you have any suitable clubs languishing in your garage or basement, please consider donating them to our junior program by bringing them to the Starter Shack once it is open.
Finally, it is important to acknowledge the Junior program has flourished with the help of our members, particularly the work of Stan Roy, Don Sutherland, and Mathiew Castonguay.
Stephanie Logothetis
Juniors Director
Social News
The Dunany Social Committee is hard at work crafting a summer calendar that celebrates everything we love about our community from favourite classics like the relaxed 5 à 7 gatherings to cherished long‑standing traditions and dinners.
We are excited to announce the 2026 Summer Concert Series, a new initiative featuring a vibrant lineup of musical acts and the debut of live stand‑up comedy. Save the following dates in your calendar (details and pricing to come):
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Saturday, June 6 - Traditional Folks Blues with Rob Lutes & Bobby Stagg.
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Saturday, June 13 - Dunany Comedy Fest featuring Joey Elias.
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Saturday, June 20 - Bokomaru (Grateful Dead Tribute plus burgers on BBQ).
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Saturday, July 11 - Blue Rodeo Tribute Singers plus burgers on BBQ.
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Friday, Aug. 28 - Nils Brown en Spectacle (food TBA).
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Saturday, Sept. 12 - Guy Belanger (Canada's top harmonica player).
DCC Merchandise
Please review MKRAK’s selection of DCC items from clothing (polos to sweaters to caps) and items like water bottles, golf gadgets and accessories. Please place your order ASAP to ensure we can meet minimum requirements to confirm these items.
If you have any questions, please email dunany100@gmail.com. We will also contact you if there are any issues, like we do not reach the minimums necessary at MRAK.
Thank you for your understanding and support, and happy shopping!
Communications
If you have any news, photos or occasions that you’d like to share with DCC membership, please email Communications Director Paul Logothetis: dunany.news@gmail.com