Merion Officials Open To An Open Return

Andrew Albert reports on the comments of Merion club officials and His High Holiness Buddy Marucci and it seems the folks in Ardmore are talking about another U.S. Open invite.

"Clearly, we are talking to the USGA about what we want back, and what they would favor us in coming back here," Ill said on Comcast SportsNet's "Philly Sports Talk" about the Open returning. "I would think that a little while back, even with a successful Open, we would probably not expect another Open for a long time. But I think the success of this Open, not only for Merion, but for the USGA, and for the area, the region and the state, it has a possibility of coming back."

There already are rumblings as to what would be the ideal year for the U.S. Open to come back to Merion. Rumors and chatter cite 2030 as the ideal year, marking the 100th anniversary of Bobby Jones completing his Grand Slam at Merion.

2030?!

"Let me put it this way," said Merion member George "Buddy" Marucci, who was the captain of the winning U.S. Walker Cup team on his home course in 2009. "I see no reason why the Open couldn't come back."

Way to go out on a limb there Buddy!

Luke Kerr-Dineen talked to players at the Travelers Championship and they were not so eager to return.

"No," said Charley Hoffman, who finished T-45 at the U.S. Open at +15, when asked if he'd like to see Merion host another U.S. Open. "It had horrible logistics, the gallery was very restricted, but I guess that's what happens when an organization runs a golf tournament."

"We went from Olympic, which was as smooth as a tournament could be, to Merion, which was just difficult," Thompson said, who finished T-56. "It's a great golf course . . . but there are no hotels near the course and there's only one road leading to the course, so in the back of your mind you're always thinking, 'Am I going to catch traffic and be late for my tee time?'"

Update on 2013-06-19 14:59 by Geoff

**There were extensive comments from General Chairman Rick Ill to Mike Dern in the Daily News.

A few highlights:

"We're going to continue to be very USGA-centric, if you will," reiterated Rick Ill, former club president and the general chairman of the club's championship committee. "The championship committee has talked about another Amateur, and potentially another Walker Cup, after this. And of course we might be open to the possibility of another Open. You never want to say anything's a sure thing. We'll see what happens. And hopefully, so will the USGA. I know people are already looking ahead to 2030, and the 100th anniversary of Bob Jones winning the grand slam [at Merion].

"We'd like to do something with women's golf, too, if possible. We have a very good women's team. So we'd like to look at something on the national level. We'll keep working on it.