9 Things You Didn't Know About the Masters Green Jacket

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The 2023 Masters Tournament is underway at Augusta National. This Sunday, the chapion will receive a green jacket. The Masters tournament is labrynth of rules and regulations (e.g. cell phones are banned), but where does this tradition come from? Read on for the answer.

1. The green jacket was inspired by something that happened to American golf legend Bobby Jones.

In 1930, after winning the British Open at Hoylake, Jones was presented with a red jacket previously worn only by captains of the Royal Liverpool Golf Club. Jones and his Masters co-founder Clifford Roberts thought Augusta National members should wear jackets to identify them so that guests knew whom to ask for information (and club waiters know whom to present with the check!). In 1937 the green jacket was born.

2. Masters winners haven't always received their own jackets.

That tradition, which celebrates the tournament winners as honorary members, didn't begin until Sam Snead was presented with one after his 1949 win.

3. You can find replica jackets, complete with Augusta National patches, on the Internet.

In fact, I wore one of them around New York City and wrote about the experience for T&C.

4. The real ones have to stay on club property.

An exception to this rule is made for the current Masters champion, who's allowed to wear his jacket off the grounds of Augusta National for a year following his win. Gary Player, the 1961 champion, reportedly forgot to bring his jacket with him when he returned to the club from his home in South Africa for the 1962 tournament. When Roberts told him he was required to return it to the clubhouse, Player said, "Well, you can come and fetch it." Clifford "laughed about it, and he just said, 'No, in all seriousness, please don't ever wear it in public.'"

5. A Cincinnati company called Hamilton Tailoring Company has made the jackets since 1967.

Ed Heimann, the company's chairman, bought a 500-yard roll of the Georgia-made emerald green fabric (Pantone 342, in case you were curious) in 1990. It's enough to make 200 jackets.

6. The three-button jackets cost about $250 to make.

There's also a higher-end option: Savile Row's Henry Poole & Co. reportedly produces a bespoke version for members that takes three to six months to complete.

7. The winner doesn't keep the jacket he's presented with on Masters Sunday.

Tournament officials keep an eye on the leaderboard and gather up a few appropriate sizes as the competition is winding down. Later, the winner is given a custom-made version, with his name stitched on a label inside, to keep.

8. A real one once fetched $682,000 at auction.

It belonged to the first winner of the Masters, Horton Smith. After Augusta National began awarding jackets to winners in 1949, the club presented the nine Masters winners from 1934-1948 with their own coats. Wouldn't want them to feel left out, after all.

9. Jack Nicklaus was the first person to win the Masters two years in a row, in 1966, and at the jacket ceremony he put the coat on himself.

Since then, the club's chairman has put the jacket on repeat winners—something that could happen again this year.

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