For anyone who has ever wondered what it might be like to take on a major championship course as played by the leading professionals, for anyone who has yearned to see Justin Timberlake suffer for *NSYNC’s manifest crimes against good music – the time has come.

At 2pm today in San Diego, California, in what has to rank as one of the more intriguing TV reality-show concepts in recent memory, Timberlake, the former boy-band member now reinvented as an R&B innovator, will play 18 holes at Torrey Pines, the venue for next week’s US Open. He will play his round with Tony Romo, the Dallas Cowboys quarterback, Matt Lauer, the co-host of NBC’s Today, America’s most popular morning television show, and John Atkinson, a cancer sufferer who was one of 56,000 people who entered a competition organised by Golf Digest magazine.

The course will be as long (7,600 yards), the fairways as narrow, the rough as high and the greens as mind-numbingly quick as when the pros play. To complete the sense of authenticity, members of the public will be allowed to watch proceedings from the stands erected for next week’s tournament. The only difference between today and next week will be the scores.

“No way,” said Tiger Woods when asked if a 10-handicap golfer could break 100 on a US Open set-up. “People don’t realise how thick the rough is and how difficult it is controlling the shots. I know Matt and Tony are good players but until they experience it they have no idea.”

The best player in the world may have been sceptical but he sounded positively encouraging compared with some of his fellow pros. “They won’t be able to think straight,” said Padraig Harrington, and Colin Montgomerie suggested the celebrity players would not come close to breaking three figures and wished them the best of British luck.

Geoff Ogilvy, who won the 2006 US Open at Winged Foot with a score of five over par, said a 10-handicap golfer might have a chance of breaking 100 if he played sensibly. “If they bunt [their drives] on every hole and keep their chip shots below the hole then they might have a chance,” he said.

That is the depressingly negative news. The cheerily upbeat news is that Timberlake and company have had plenty of time to prepare for the agony that lies ahead. Amid the kind of security normally seen at a G8 summit, all four amateurs have been playing practice rounds at Torrey Pines this week in an attempt to unlock its mysteries, or at least try to find ways of numbing the pain. One seasoned golf observer who was able to break through the cordon thrown up by the event’s organisers described himself as “pleasantly surprised” after watching Timberlake hit a few shots. “He was striping the ball,” he said.

This will come as no surprise to those who have followed the singer’s golf career. He is devoted to the game, so much so that he took time during his British tour last year to play at many of the top courses, including the Old Course at St Andrews. Next year he will be the celebrity host of his own PGA Tour event in Las Vegas. “He practises every day, has a swing coach and takes his clubs everywhere he goes,” said a spokesman.

He is, it is fair to say, a decent player. According to the United States Golf Association, which records the handicap of every amateur in America, Timberlake plays off three, with his last 20 scores ranging between 76 and 86. This is a good record, but one which should be treated with caution – the scores were recorded at his home club in Collierville, Tennessee, where he is accustomed to the course’s challenges.

The best player in the amateur four-ball is Romo, who last month shot 75 in the first stage of US Open qualifying – a respectable score but not low enough to advance to the next stage. Lauer is listed with a handicap of six and Atkinson, who was diagnosed with cancer last year, is 8.2.

“The conventional wisdom is that I’ve got no chance of breaking 100,” Atkinson said yesterday. “But I’m facing the same kind of challenge in my life. This is just another challenge.”

Such has been the interest in the stunt that bookies in Las Vegas have been offering odds, with Timberlake the surprising 5-4 favourite to card the best score. The chances of anyone shooting in the 90s are rated at 5-1.

However, the chances of any of them having a good time while embarrassing themselves in public are negligible, according to the leading golf coach Butch Harmon. “It will be the greatest golfing experience of their lives,” he says. “And they will be miserable every step of the way.”

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