DOUG ARROWSMITH

October 1, 2009

It was the lack of grass tennis facilities plus the hot weather in South Australia that proved to be the catalyst for Doug Arrowsmith to turn his hand to the game of bowls.

"I had been transferred in my employment in the bank to Port Augusta from Nannup in 1962, and, looking around for a game of tennis, all I could find were hard courts, which, with the temperature around the century, weren't as inviting as the grass courts I was accustomed to," he recalled. "There was a bowling green nearby, so I dropped in, and the rest is history."

"My first bowls were Henselite five inch," he reminisced.

Spending his first four years in the sport at Port Augusta as a leader, Doug received another transfer, this time to Busselton. Promoted to a skippers' role, the Arrowsmith mantle piece was adorned with the first of countless trophies he was to collect over a marvelous career when he took off the Busselton singles championship, quickly followed by the South West singles.

Transferred to Perth in 1971, Doug joined the Subiaco club, where he won five singles trophies, and became a leading pennant player, representing Western Australia from 1974 to 1978. When Subiaco folded and amalgamated with Hollywood, Doug Arrowsmith put his on and off field efforts behind his new bowling home. Winning four more singles events at Hollywood-Subiaco, his presence was also felt on the State Championship scene, where he skippered three State fours championship winning combinations, won two mixed fours events, and was runner up to Bert Sharp in the singles.

"Bert was the best player I ever saw," Doug told us.

Bert Sharp was to figure in a near embarrassment for Arrowsmith at another distinguished event.

"It was a special game at Manning, arranged for the visit of the Governor," he wryly reminisced. "I was playing against Bert, and the match was broadcast on ABCTV. A 31-up contest, I don't know what happened, but before I knew it I was 21-1 down, and it looked like being all over before the governor arrived. I'm not sure whether I improved or Bert took it easy, but it got out to a more respectable 31-16, and the Governor duly turned up in time for the finish."

Doug has been a great servant of bowls in WA .A member of the executive committee of the then WABA for two years, he has been involved in official coaching for thirty years. His wife, Helen, is well known in bowling circles, having served on the Ladies' committee, as well as being an outstanding publicity officer for BowlsWA. Herself no slouch on the green, she was equal third in a State Womens Singles Championship.

Doug Arrowsmith received an Order of Australia Medal two years ago for services to bowls and the work he'd done for war veterans and their families through the auspices of the RSL. A bomber pilot with the famous 460 squadron in World War Two, when he went on 35 perilous missions over Europe, he was decorated with the Distinguished Flying Cross by King George V1 at Buckingham Palace.

Still hard to beat at the age of eighty seven, Doug Arrowsmith is an ornament to the game of Bowls in Western Australia. Both on and off the green his contribution has been immense.

RON HEAD