In the world of championship golf, no prize sums up greatness more succinctly than the player who dons the famed Masters Green Jacket.
Bestowed on the player with the lowest 72-hole total, the Green Jacket transcends any metal trophy and goes beyond the sum of dollars awarded to the victor.
You can’t buy it. You earn it.
The Green Jacket elevates the wearer to an elite level. Joining a small coterie that has earned the right to forever be identified for their specific accomplishment.
Each Tuesday of tournament week the living past winners gather for the Champions Dinner. A group photograph is taken with each wearing their own Green Jacket. A most special and limited club of honorees.
Here are 16 key facts about golf’s ultimate prize…
1) The idea for the Green Jacket came from Bobby Jones. While attending a dinner at Royal Liverpool, Jones noticed how the captains wore red jackets. He brought the idea back to co-founder Clifford Roberts and they chose the colour green for the jackets that Augusta National members would wear.
2) The first time Green Jackets were part of the Masters was in 1937 when the event was still called the Augusta National Invitation Tournament (1934-1939). Members of the club used the jackets as a way to identify themselves during the event to assist with any questions patrons had while attending.
3) The jackets originally were made by the Brooks Uniform Company in New York City.
4) The first-time the Green Jacket was awarded to the winner of the Masters came in 1949 when Sam Snead won the first of three titles.
5) The Cincinnati-based Hamilton Tailoring Company has made the blazer since 1967. The approximate costs for producing each is estimated at approximately $250 per jacket.
6) The Green Jacket is a classic three-button style, single breasted and center vented and made of tropical-weight wool (roughly 2-and-a-half yards per jacket from the Forstmann mill in Dublin, Georgia.
7) The specific name for the green color is called: Pantone 342 and the owner’s name is stitched on the inside label.
8) Although there have been players who have won multiple Masters events the club only formally presents one Green Jacket to the player unless for some reason the jacket no longer fits properly.
9) The winner doesn’t keep the presentation jacket he wears on Sunday following the conclusion of play. He’s later given a custom-made version to keep.
10) Traditionally the immediate past champion helps put on the The Green Jacket for the new champion. When Jack Nicklaus became the first back-to-back winner of the Masters in 1966, the decision was made by co-founders Bob Jones and Clifford Roberts that Nicklaus would do the honour himself.
Related: When Clifford Roberts ruled Augusta
11) When Nick Faldo became the second golfer to defend his title in 1990, the Green Jacket was placed on him by Masters Chairman Hord Hardin. When Tiger Woods became the third golfer to defend his title in 2002, the Green Jacket was placed on him by Masters Chairman William ‘Hootie’ Johnson.
12) Billy Casper wanted to be buried in his Green Jacket and the club gave permission to do so and provided the family his jacket. Casper died in 2015.
13) Designated tournament officials watch as the leaders emerge in the final round and try to have a few appropriate sizes on hand but sometimes they guess wrong. Jack Nicklaus was given an ultra-big 46-long in 1963, which the Golden Bear said “looked like an overcoat.” When Nicklaus came back a year later, the club still had not made a jacket that fit, so Jack borrowed one from former New York Governor Tom Dewey, a club member. Nicklaus eventually ordered one himself from Hart, Schaffner and Marx in 1972.
14) Three-time Masters champion Nick Faldo had his Green Jacket produced by Nordstrom.
15) A lesser-known Masters tradition allows the caddie of the tournament winner to hang on to the long-sleeve, zip-up overall as a keepsake, a sort of Green Jacket for those who have served as bagmen.
16) The current Masters winner is the only person who may remove the Jacket from the grounds of the Augusta National Golf Club during the year. After the year’s reign the Jacket of each Masters champion remains in the Champions locker room until the time of the tournament where it can again be worn. There is one exception to this when, in 1961, Gary Player became the first foreign-born player to win at Augusta. The South African opted to take the Green Jacket back to his home country, which was a violation of club policy. When Clifford Roberts spoke to Player and reminded him the jacket needed to be at Augusta National, Player responded matter-of-factly: “Well, Mr Roberts if you want it, why don’t you come and fetch it?” Roberts chuckled at Player’s retort and simply asked Player never to wear it in public.”
