William ‘Billy’ Meader and Oscar Damman are two names almost lost in the rich history of Australian golf, which is astounding when you consider the pair had such a strong influence on the creation of one of this country’s best courses.
The Victoria Golf Club was established 120 years ago and played on links at Fisherman’s Bend near Port Melbourne. This was a year after the formation of the Victorian Golf Association, whose secretary treasurer, Billy Meader, was the driving force behind the new club. The career banker also became the champion for the club’s move to its present site in the heart of the Melbourne Sandbelt at Cheltenham in the mid 1920s.
Meader had a keen ally in the club’s founding captain, Oscar Damman – a St Kilda born former Melbourne Grammar student who worked alongside his brother, Percy, in the family’s successful tobacconist business. He, like Meader, was also a pretty good golfer having won trophies at various Melbourne and Mornington Peninsula clubs.
Both men were successful in their careers but neither had ever studied
