As noted in the companion post (Where’s the Golf!?! [aka My Time at the 2025 Ryder Cup]), my father and I had our planned itinerary out east get scrambled thanks to the weather forecast … and the generosity of the PGA of America.
We were supposed to finish our travel into Long Island from our Pennsyvlania hotel on Wednesday and stop along the way to check out one of two museums in New Jersey we’d both been eyeballing for sometime: The Yogi Berra Museum and Learning Center on the campus of Montclair State University and the USGA Golf Museum and Library in Liberty Corner. We’d then hit the other museum on our way out of town on Friday.
With the hurry-up call to get to Bethpage Black Golf Course on Wednesday, we made the decision to head to New Jersey on Thursday and pay a visit to both museums rather than spend another day on what was looking to be a soggy and somewhat deserted Ryder Cup grounds.
Here’s my take on the two museums, as different as night and day, but equally enjoyable in their own way.
But First … Christy Mathewson
We spent the night during our trip east in New Columbia, PA, which is just a few miles from Lewisburg, home of Bucknell University.
My dad, in doing his research before our trip, discovered that Christy Mathewson, one of the Baseball Hall of Fame‘s original class of inductees, was buried in Lewisburg Cemetery. A native of Factoryville, PA, Mathewson was a 3-sport athlete at Bucknell and his wife was a Lewsiburg native.
It was a no-brainer to pay our respects to a name we were both familiar with.
And then we discovered the football stadium is also named for the baseball great so a campus drive about ensued. Which led to a visit to the Bucknell Golf Club and a spotting of its own version of the more-famous Oakmont Country Club‘s “church pew bunkers.”
Clockwise from upper left, the backside of the baseball stadium’s scoreboard; Christy Mathewson’s gravestone; the Bucknell University Golf Course features it’s own version of the “church pew bunkers” from a more famous Pennsyvlania course, Oakmont Country Club; the Mathewson family plot; and the athletic stadium named in Mathewson’s honor.
The USGA Golf Museum
The exterior of the USGA Golf Museum and the map of its interior.
This has long been on my father’s list of places he’d like to visit.
An avid golfer throughout much of his life and a 1-time card-carrying member of the United States Golf Association (USGA), he’s frequently talked about this spot, but never had the opportunity to get there. I determined we’d make a go of visiting and, if the weather permitted, even pay the extra $10 fee to do some putting on the famed Pynes Putting Course. (Spoiler alert, the weather did not cooperate.)
As one might imagine a golf museum, it is stately and, for the most part, a quiet space to brush with the greatest in the game’s history.
- There are five rooms dedicated soley to the accomplishments of five notable golf individuals from golf’s history: Bobby Jones, Ben Hogan, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, and Mickey Wright (widely considered the greatest women’s player, ever).
- The Hall of Champions, as the name suggests, features the names of every USGA-sponsored competition winner in history as well as all of the trophies on display.
- Finally, there is an exhibit near the back that takes visitors through a chronological history of the game in the United States.
Many of the artifacts are breathtaking and straight from the collections of the golfers (in the case of the five themed rooms) themselves. Reading the names of past winners in the Hall of Champions – especially those of Junior-level winners – is fascinating to see who has/have become household names in the sport achieving greatness in their youth.
Clockwise from upper left, a showcase featuring artifacts from Arnold Palmer’s career; this painting of the 16h hole at Augusta National Golf Club was painted by President Dwight D. Eisenhower and presented to Bobby Jones; this portrait of Jones by Thomas Edgar Stephens was later copied by Eisenhower (the Eisenhower version hangs Butler Cabin at Augusta National); this Jack Nicklaus sculpture is a centerpiece in his namesake room; the U.S. Open Championship Trophy includes the name of 2025 winner, J.J. Spaun; a wider look at all the trophies on display; this “Superpowers” area features plenty about Palmer, Nicklaus, and Gary Player; this Sam Snead hat caught my eye; the jumpsuit of Jack Nicklaus II who caddied for his dad during the 1986 Masters; Mickey Wright’s final round scorecard of her 1958 U.S. Open victory at Forest Lake Country Club in Bloomfield Hils, MI, (I’ve enjoyed brunch there on several occasions!); the Ben Hogan Award; Hogan’s Green Jacket from The Masters; various artifacts from Johnny Miller’s 1973 U.S. Open victory.
Perhaps my favorite item in all of the museum was the drawing of Palmer by James David Chase entitled “Gratitude.” At first glance, as you enter the Arnold Palmer Room it appears to be created by a series of lines or a sketch. Upon closer look, it’s actually words and statements either used by Palmer or by others to describe Palmer, his game, his humanity, etc. The accompanying video interview with the artist indicated it took 12 years to create and for many of the smallest statements he needed to wear eye magnification and hold his breath while writing.
It’s hard to do it justice, but what appears to be a pencil drawing of Palmer’s face (top) is, in reality, a series of words and phrases (bottom two images).
The Yogi Berra Museum
A look at Yogi Berra Stadium (home to Montclair State University and the New Jersey Institute of Technology baseball teams), the outside of the museum, and a famous Yogism.
I’m not a New York Yankees’ fan (I live in Detroit, right!?!), but I am a fan of baseball and the English language which, I suppose, means I’m bound by primal forces of nature to be a fan of Baseball Hall of Famer and Yankees’ legend, Yogi Berra.
Having never seen him play, I only knew about Yogi the ex-baseball player and probably wouldn’t have given a second thought about visiting his namesake museum and learning center on the campus Montclair State University, but I am familiar with the Yogisms and his on-the-field success. The tipping point for me wanting to pay a visit, however, was viewing the 2022 Berra documentary, “It Ain’t Over.” I cannot recommend it enough. A total loveletter from his
While there are some lovely artifacts housed here, I’d categorize the spot as more of a menagerie of things collected through the years by either the Berra family or donated to Yogi by former teammates and other Yankees.
If you find yourself in the area like we did, do take the time to visit the theater, which is built to resemble Yankee Stadium, and view the 2011 episode of “Boys in the Hall” that features Berra. It’s hosted by longtime NBC anchorman Tom Brokaw and provides a terrific backdrop about who Berra was.
Clockwise from upper left, Yogi leads a cavalcade of Hall of Famers onto the field during the 2008 All-Star Game at Yankee Stadium; an area near the entrance to the exhibit hall; Yogi’s Presidential Medal of Freedom and military medals; several artifacts from his playing days with the Yankees; Yogi was on Omaha Beach during the D-Day Invasion; plaques of teammates Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle from the old Monument Park at Yankee Stadium; the jerseys of fellow Yankee catchers Elston Howard (the first black Yankee), Thurman Munson, and Jorge Posada; some artifacts from his time with the New York Mets; the yellow Yankees’ World Series rings are the ones Berra won; portraits of some New York baseball royalty line a wall; broadcaster and former teammate Phil Rizzuto was fond of saying “holy cow,” this one’s signed by many legends; a look at the exhibit area.