THE FRONT ROW WITH MARK NELKE: Thursday, June 18, 2015

Some golf fans enjoy the "lawn darts" tournaments, where the winner shoots at least 18 under, maybe as much as 24 under, bombing their drives and spinning their wedges and kicking in birdies.

Tourneys where the golfers are able to fire at every flag, and approach shots tend to stop right about where they land, leading to lots of birdie chances.

I don't mind seeing that type of tournament on occasion, though I certainly can't relate to it.

At least for one week, I prefer the U.S. Open.

PERHAPS I enjoy watching the best golfers in the world struggle a little bit.

None of this hitting driver, 6-iron on a par-5, leading to an eagle putt, or at the very least, an easy two-putt birdie.

None of this driving the ball well off the fairway, but still ending up with a good angle to the green (as well as an even better lie) and a good shot at birdie.

None of this air-mailing the green, but still ending up in good enough shape to hit a flop shot within 2 feet and save par.

When us amateur hacks drive it off the fairway, usually there's a tree blocking our view of the green. Sure, we can try to slice it around the tree and toward the green, but more likely we'll overcompensate and pull it into someone's back yard.

And the closest most of us get to eagles is when the band with that name visits the Northwest every few years or so.

And our air-mailed approach shots usually catch the cart path and roll another 50 yards away.

SURE, THERE'S a little bit of Northwest pride to seeing our national open come to our neck of the woods, for the first time in its 115-year history.

Though the TV cameras portray a certain beauty of the 8-year-old course in suburban Tacoma (insert obligatory "Aroma of Tacoma" joke here), the links-style look certainly isn't what I remember about Seattle-area golf.

I remember playing a course in west Seattle one March in the late 1980s, while in town for the NCAA West Regional. I remember walking down the hill on No. 1 after hitting our tee shots. After about 50 yards, I couldn't see my shoes - the ground was so soggy.

Of course, this is June and we're talking about a course built well enough to handle a U.S. Open, and not your local muni.

(As an aside, how thoughtful of the Stanley Cup playoffs and the NBA Finals to wrap up a little bit early, leaving the focus of the next four days solely on the U.S. Open).

THE ONE thing we won't know for sure until today is, exactly how tough will this course play? Which shots will feed near the hole, which will roll off the green, and which will roll back to the players - thank you, try again?

If someone hits an approach shot near the flag, but it doesn't hold the green, and rolls off and doesn't stop until somewhere near the Tacoma Dome, that could be a problem.

The consensus seems to be the USGA, which sets up the course each day, will err on the side of caution in Round 1 today - not wanting to see a bunch of 80s and possibly 90s posted. Who's going to want to come back to that course? However, if a bunch of folks come in well under the par of 70, well, expect the course to play a little tougher the rest of the way.

Then again, even after the "Massacre at Winged Foot" in 1974, where the winning score was a staggering 7 over par, the U.S. Open eventually returned to Winged Foot, in 1984 and 2006. And even after the debacle at Shinnecock Hills in 2004, where the greens got so fast on the final day they had to hand-water them between groups, the USGA is scheduled to come back to that course as well, in 2018.

So, no matter how high or low the winning score is this week, hopefully the Open - or some other big-time tourney - comes back to Chambers Bay.

But let's not have to wait another 115 years, OK?

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via email at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter@CdAPressSports.