Marucci back to tournament play after post-Walker Cup break

For Buddy Marucci, the year after captaining the U.S. team to the Walker Cup title at Merion, his home club, has been one of rest and relaxation, with an emphasis on social golf rather than tournament golf.

His effort as captain was a success, but all the work he put in prior to the Walker Cup - including the scouting, the selection of the team, and the competition itself - took more out of him than he thought it would.

"I think it was more emotional than physical," Marucci said Tuesday. "I did travel a lot. But don't get me wrong, I had a lot of fun doing what I did. This particular year, I thought I was going to play more, but I decided to take a little time off and kind of do other things."

Marucci, 58, of Villanova, will return to competition this week at the U.S. Senior Open, which begins Thursday at Sahalee Country Club in Sammamish, Wash., outside of Seattle.

The Senior Open is one of four USGA championships in which he will participate this year, along with the U.S. Amateur, U.S. Mid-Amateur and U.S. Senior Amateur. He will return to the Senior Amateur for the first time since winning the title in 2008; he skipped last year because of his Walker Cup duties.

"This should be interesting," Marucci said, referring to the Senior Open. "The course is very nice, in great condition. The weather out here is wonderful. I think it's going to be a good challenge.

"I've been playing a little more social golf at Merion, which is nice to do. Right now, I'd say I'm playing OK."

Loving the area. Mark Battista, who also is competing in the U.S. Senior Open, spent eight years living in Moorestown and loved being able to play and compete as a member of the Philadelphia Publinks Golf Association.

Which is why, when Battista moved to Rancho Mirage, Calif., in 2006, he never stopped paying his PPGA dues, and returns to the area three or four times a year to play in Publinks and Golf Association of Philadelphia events.

"I enjoy coming back and seeing my friends," the 60-year-old Battista said Wednesday following his final practice round. "Camaraderie is a part of golf. So I love coming back, and my wife has relatives living in the Delran area so it's a good opportunity for her to see her family.

"I figure, just do it. Who knows how many years I have left to play golf? Guys have bad backs and all kinds of aches everywhere. As long as I'm healthy, I'm going to go back there and play."

Battista teamed with Ken Gaskill to win the senior division of the Philadelphia Better-Ball earlier this summer. This is his first Senior Open, and first USGA event since 1983, when he competed in his third U.S. Amateur.

Also entered in the Senior Open field is Bill Sautter of Warrington, assistant pro at Philadelphia Cricket Club, who finished third in the Philadelphia Open, one shot out of the playoff, and Overbrook Golf Club amateur Chris Lange of Bryn Mawr.

PGA standings. Travis Deibert's victory in Tuesday's Woodcrest Invitational enabled him to build his lead in the Philadelphia Section PGA's Haverford Trust Player of the Year standings.

Deibert, assistant pro at Commonwealth National, holds a lead of slightly more than 400 points over Stu Ingraham of M-Golf, and 500 over Mark Sheftic of Merion. Ingraham is in a dead heat with Greg Farrow of Deerwood for the top spot in the Skee Riegel Senior Player of the Year race.

Amateur news. Aurora Kan of Boothwyn, a senior at Chichester High School, and Scott Jaster of Bryn Mawr, a sophomore at the Haverford School, will represent the Philadelphia area in the 35th annual Junior PGA Championship, a 72-hole event that begins Monday in Fort Wayne, Ind. . . . A field of 130 players will try to qualify Monday over 36 holes at Sunnybrook Golf Club in Plymouth Meeting and Cedarbrook Country Club in Blue Bell for a berth in the U.S. Amateur. The championship begins Aug. 23 at Chambers Bay in University Place, Wash.