Why a dress and not a trophy? The inner story of the Green Jacket

Although the Augusta Masters played since 1934, the tradition of serving Green jacket the tournament champion started exactly in 1949. The Augusta National Golf Club it opened in 1932. Five years later, club members began using jackets of that color, as a symbol of equality. And over time, both partners were the ones who took on the role of supervisors at the Masters, where they decided to use the jackets, with the Augusta National logo on the chest, to be easily identifiable. At first they were thick cloth, but the heat of the weather when the tournament was played (second week of April) became extremely uncomfortable. Now they are lighter fabrics.

The first Green Jackets were purchased in New York, but now the fabric used is from a factory located in West Yorkshire, England. The dress color is even patented as “Green Masters”. When the cloth was dyed, it was sent to Henry Poole Co., in London, where it was made. The buttons are made of brass and the club shield is also engraved.

If members could only wear the attire, where did the tradition of giving one to the winner at the Masters come from? In 1949 it was decided, at the suggestion of the founder of the first Grand Slam on the calendar, the myth. Bobby Jones, give a jacket to the winner. Jones ’suggestion was made to emulate an old English club tradition. RoyalLiverpool, where British captains wore red jackets. The only exception is the winner of the British Open. The first player to receive the coveted Green Jacket is Sam Sneadwho won the Masters that year.

Since it is not known who will be the champion, that year’s Masters winner receives a jacket from a partner with a similar build as measurements are taken and sent to England to be made. The winner can keep it for years after his success, with the promise of returning it in the next edition. The jacket stays in the clubhouse and can be worn by the player (it can be found hanging in the closet in the Champions dressing room) while inside the area. The only exception, GaryPlayer, who won in 1962 and never returned the dress, and Seve Ballesetroswho also didn’t do it after his victories in 1980 and 1983. The club had to do them differently and opened a Pandora’s box for other players to do as well.

According to tradition, at the putting green award ceremony (previously there was a symbolic award for TV rights holder, CBS, at Butler Cabin) the defending champion gives the jacket to his successor. In 1966 there was, for the first time, the case of a player who repeated the title: it was Jack Nicklaus, who imposed it on himself. Since then, when that case is filed, the president of the Augusta National Golf Club has been the one delivering the jacket. It has only happened twice since then: in 1990, when he repeated it Nick Faldoand in 2002, when Tiger Woods He won his third title, the second in a row.

The Green Jacket, awarded to the Augusta Masters winner for over 70 years, is undoubtedly one of the most important awards in this sport, due to its exclusivity and the importance of being crowned in the tournament considered the most important to the world .. In 1942 the club members began to serve as ‘marshalls’ of the tournament and kept their attire to be easily recognizable on the golf course. One of the partners who qualified for it was the Spaniards Ana Patricia BotinPresident of Santander, and one of the women who entered the select club along with the former U.S. Secretary of State, Condolence Rice.

The attire is owned by Augusta National Golf Club, which guards it and leaves it available in the ‘locker’ when the champion visits the club, either during the week of the tournament or if he or she is attending (the course is closed during the months of May, June, July and August for heat) with a member and visitors in spring, autumn or winter. The champion also receives a replica of the trophy that is displayed each year in the tournament display tent next to the merchandise store.