Would golf’s U.S. Open really be the U.S. Open if it was played at an average PGA Tour course where the winner was 25 under par? I don’t think so. Similarly, what damage would be done to bowling’s U.S. Open if it were not bowled on the flat pattern that has set it apart as the most demanding test in bowling for the last decade or so? It could cease to be THE U.S. Open as we have come to know it, and become just another major — nice but not uber special. For decades,...