In the heart of Lugano, at Via Peri 11, a new facility has opened its doors that caters not only to sports enthusiasts, but also to those who view the past as a cultural heritage to be preserved: the Hickory Golf Masters Museum, part of the Hickory Golf Masters SA, offers a broad view of historic golf, telling its roots through a rare collection and meticulous conservation work.
The new 380-square-meter facility was conceived at the instigation of CEO Paolo Quirici, an internationally recognized expert on golf history and one of today's most accomplished hickory golf players. The museum aims to make accessible a crucial period in the technical evolution of golf clubs: the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when craftsmanship was the primary driver of innovation.
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The exhibition path and the role of Tom Stewart Jr.
The museum focuses on the work of Scottish master clubmaker Tom Stewart Jr., who set new standards in hickory woodworking. His signature, recognizable today by expert collectors, speaks to an era when craftsmanship directly impacted playing performance.
The rooms display a selection of 360 original clubs, part of an overall collection of approximately 1500 pieces: a corpus spanning the main technical phases of classic golf and also including a collection of balls from 1900 to 2025, useful for tracking the evolution of the materials.
Historic Golf: Champions and Their Equipment
Among the clubs on display are authentic pieces of sporting history, belonging to players who have left their mark on the history of the Majors. Among them:
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Bobby Jones, architect of Augusta National and founder of the US Masters
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Francis Ouimet, the first amateur to win the US Open
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Gene Sarazen, among the few to have completed the Grand Slam in his career
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Harry Vardon, inventor of the famous grip
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Ted Ray, Jack White, James Braid, Arnaud Massy
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Old Tom Morris and Young Tom Morris, key figures in building the British Open tradition
Their clubs, combined with those of other great players of the time, allow us to observe how technique merged with manual skill, in a balance that today has almost disappeared.
The Phil Gibbs Collection: The Historical Core
The heart of the museum is the collection dedicated to the works of Tom Stewart, assembled over thirty years by American Phil Gibbs (1945–2025). Gibbs, a meticulous collector deeply attached to the cultural value of golf, expressed the desire for his legacy to find a permanent home, open to the public.
Hickory Golf Masters SA kept its promise to the collector: just over a year after its purchase, the collection was placed in the new museum in Lugano. The inauguration on December 4, 2025, thus became a symbolic handover, occurring less than seven months after Gibbs's death. A gesture that Quirici often summarizes with a recurring reflection: "You don't own a historic club: you preserve it until another generation can appreciate it."
A museum to experience, not just to visit
One of the elements that distinguishes the Hickory Golf Masters Museum from other institutions dedicated to the history of the sport is the opportunity to experience the game. In addition to the exhibition halls, the facility includes a restoration laboratory—where Quirici works on historic pieces—and an indoor area equipped with a putting green and simulator.
Here, visitors have the opportunity to test out authentic vintage clubs, an experience that has attracted the interest of collectors and specialized players well before the official opening.
A historic golf course that looks beyond the borders of Ticino
Located in a pedestrian area of Lugano, the museum has already become a reference point for those studying the evolution of sports equipment. The project's impact has spread beyond Switzerland, fostering contacts with experts and enthusiasts from Europe and the United States.
For the city, the opening also represents a new step in enhancing its cultural spaces, with an offering that combines education, collecting, crafts, and sports.
