The Brandenburg Historical Golf Museum at Cinnabar Hills is a treat for fans

Posted by author February 22, 2025 Golf

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John Schiro will tell you that the museum the late Lee Brandenburg created at Cinnabar Hills Golf Club in South San Jose is a lot more than you’ll find at just about any golf course in the country.

“Most country clubs have a museum to talk about their history or if they have a great player,” said Schiro, who is the curator of the Brandenburg Historical Golf Museum. “But nobody has one that’s about the history of the sport.”

Schiro gave a talk about the history of the museum and some of the key parts of the collection to a group of a couple dozen people that included Brandenburg’s wife Diane Brandenburg; pro golfer Ken Venturi’s son Matt Venturi and grandson, Andrew Venturi; San Jose Sports Authority CEO John Poch and members of the San Jose State men’s golf team with their coach, John Kennaday.

Brandenburg, who died in 2017, started playing golf in high school and was a passionate fan of the game throughout his life. Schiro told stories about Brandenburg, when he was a second lieutenant stationed at nearby Camp Gordon and sneaked onto the course at Augusta National to watch Dwight Eisenhower, then the President-elect, play. He wound up meeting Ike that day, and later Brandenburg acquired Eisenhower’s green members jacket. (A replica of it is on display at Cinnabar Hills, as the valuable original is under lock and key.)

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A collection of antique golf balls are on display at the Lee Brandenburg Historical Golf Museum at Cinnabar Hills Golf Club in San Jose. (Sal Pizarro/Bay Area News Group)

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The collection took decades to build, and when Cinnabar Hills opened in 1998, Brandenburg thought he would share it with the people who came to the club nestled in the Coyote Valley.

In the early 2000s, the Brandenburgs met a silversmith in England who crafted replicas of golf’s four major trophies and the Ryder Cup, which are each displayed in cases along with a replica of the U.S. Amateur trophy. The USGA and other associations sent threatening letters insisting the unlicensed replicas be destroyed, but Brandenburg ignored them — or replied in the profoundly negative.

Those are still on display, along with vintage golf balls and clubs, tributes to famed golfers like Bobby Jones, Ben Hogan and Arnold Palmer. There’s a framed correspondence between Hogan and Hugh Hefner, who was trying to get the famed golfer to write an article for Playboy in 1956. Hef offered potential topics like “The Natural Superiority of Oysters” and “Women Shouldn’t Be Allowed to Vote,” but Hogan declined claiming he was just too busy.

One of Brandenburg’s favorite artifact was a Royal Blackheath captain’s tailcoat from Scotland. Schiro said he sometimes rearranges the pieces on display for variety, but when he moved the tailcoat following Brandenburg’s death, he had an eerie feeling Lee wouldn’t like that.

“He had a big passion for golf, and because of his passion, this is what’s come out of it,” Schiro said of the collection. And it’s worth a visit whether you’re a fan of golf or history.

SPARTAN CELEBRATION: There was a lot of San Jose State pride on display Thursday night at “Spartans of Significance,” the Distinguished Alumni Awards ceremony held at the Student Union Ballroom. The honorees — Neat CEO Janine Pelosi, Bette and Dave Loomis, Judge Robert Rigbsy, Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas and Oracle co-founder Ed Oates — all had their own stories to tell about how SJSU and public education in general opened doors for them. It was almost enough to make a guy enroll in grad school.

There were a few surprises during the evening, starting when Assemblymember Ash Kalra announced to the crowd that San Jose State President Cynthia Teniente-Matson would be honored as his district’s Woman of the Year for 2025. The rest of the crowd got a treat when the San Jose State Choraliers, led by Dr. Jeffrey Benson, belted out a couple of tunes. It was a nice warmup for the group, which has a concert March 8 at Campbell United Methodist Church and will be heading out on a European concert tour through Italy and Slovenia.

Speaking of Spartans and celebrations, Milan Balinton, executive director of the African American Community Services Agency in San Jose, was set to serve as the honorary coach of the San Jose State Women’s Basketball team Saturday — which also happened to be his birthday.

GETTING JAZZED: The Boys and Girls Clubs of Silicon Valley packed a ballroom at the Marriott San Jose on Feb. 7 for its annual Youth of the Year Gala, where a Live Oak High School senior, Alina, was honored with a $10,000 award for college expenses and will represent the region at the Northern California Youth of the Year Competition. The clubs only identify their Youth of the Year by first name.

There’s more good news on the way for the organization, which will be the beneficiary of a concert by the band All Things Swamp on March 1 at the SJZ Break Room in downtown San Jose. The band, which is in the tradition of New Orleans second line funk and blues, is releasing its new album, “Fully Dressed.” The group has a strong lineup of West Coast musicians, including Brian Switzer on trumpet, Aaron Lington on baritone sax, Dean Parks on tenor sax and guitar and Dan Gordon on tenor and bass trombone. The show starts at 2 p.m. and tickets are available at www.sanjosejazz.org/events, with a minimum of $75 suggested.

AT THE MOVIES: Having just wrapped up its Frank Capra festival, the Stanford Theatre in Palo Alto is turning its projects to three other great directors. The classic theater on University Avenue will screen movies by Ernst Lubitsch, Rouben Mamoulian and Josef von Sternberg through late April. Check out the full lineup at www.stanfordtheatre.org.

Originally Published: February 22, 2025 at 6:30 AM PST