William Walker Wood MBE (born 26 April 1938[1] in Haddington, East Lothian[2]) is a former Scottish professional bowls player, who has mainly competed in the outdoor or lawn form of the game.

[4] With little else to occupy his time, Wood says he elected to bowl in his home village of Gifford, rather than brave the bus journey to the swimming baths at nearby North Berwick.

Wood undertook his national service with the British Army, joining aged 18, serving in Germany with the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers.

He competed in the finals of the 1984 and 1988 World Bowls Championship singles (held every four years), missing out by millimetres to Peter Belliss of New Zealand in 1984 on home soil in Aberdeen.

[8] His Commonwealth Games career included a singles bronze in 1974, a silver in the pairs in 1978, individual gold in 1982[9] and a captain's role in the 1990 winning fours team.

[10] After refusing to be reclassified as an amateur, the Scotland team decided not to select the World Championship runner-up, denying him the chance to compete in Edinburgh, at a bowling green just metres from Tynecastle Park – home of his beloved Heart of Midlothian FC.