Masters Traditions: The Green Jacket

Masters Traditions: The Green Jacket

Each year, the winner of the Master’s Tournament is awarded a Green jacket to commemorate his victory.

Members of the private club have been wearing green jackets to the tournament since 1937. (Although the original jackets were deemed too hot to wear.) Members originally purchased their jackets from the Brooks Uniform Company in New York.

The first Green Jacket awarded to a player given to Sam Snead in 1949. It signified his membership—for a year—in the ultra-exclusive Augusta National Golf Club. Jackets were then given retroactively to all previous champions.

Master’s winners must return the jacket to Augusta the following year, where they are stored and made available to the players when they visit. Players only receive one jacket, regardless of the number of times they win the Masters. Some past winners, such as Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer have become actual members of the club.

Since 1954, the club has awarded crystal for various achievements, such as low round, holes-in-one and eagles. Jack Nicklaus holds a record 61 pieces of Masters’ crystal.

The green jacket has been made by Hamilton Tailoring of Cincinnati, Ohio since 1967. The wool fabric is produced at the Victor Forstmann mill in Dublin, Georgia. The wool is tropical weight, so the original complaints about being too hot to wear have presumably been resolved.

Hamilton Tailoring takes a month to produce each new three-button, single-breasted blazer. The coats have custom brass buttons inscribed with the Augusta National logo that are mae by Waterbury Button of Cheshire, Connecticut. The green is Pantone 342. RGB: 0, 107, 84.