Most golfers, far from being ashamed of our addiction to the game, actually seem to be rather proud of the fact. We brag about playing in winter storms, mock confess that we spend way too much time watching reruns of 1960s matches on the Golf Channel and claim that we want to be buried in a golf-themed casket (one popular model available online, with an early morning course scene painted on the side, is called "Fairway to Heaven").

The FedEx ads currently airing during golf telecasts sum up this casual attitude to...