Tom Boswell, the extraordinary sports columnist for the Washington Post, has written entertaining and thought provoking pieces on golf over the years through his newspaper column and magazine articles.  In 1987 he published a compilation of writings in a book he titled “Strokes of Genius” and that aptly describes his writing aptitude as well as the subject matter in his book.

The final piece is his personal confessional of a typical golfer’s wrestling match with his temper on the golf course.  Boswell says, “Golf is a humbling game, but often it takes years to learn the right sort of humility.  People have been trying to sort out their frayed feelings about golf for a century.”

Reading this piece is a journey of introspection for all of us.  Whether we have the temperament of Tommy Bolt or Mother Teresa, we have all had those moments of volcanic response to what we consider the unfair indignities the game can met out.  This piece is a chuckle and a zen moment all in one.

(Click here to read Tom Boswell’s “Temper Fugit”)

Thomas Boswell

Temper Fugit

Strokes of Genius (1987)