As for the Green Jackets, they have been produced by the Hamilton Tailoring Company for the past three decades. It takes a month to produce each jacket and once the brass buttons and icon badge have been added, the new owner’s name is stitched inside the label.
If you don’t have the right criteria to become a member, you could win The Amateur run by the R&A and earn a start in the following year’s Masters Tournament. Having defeated the best amateurs in the game, you just need to top the leaderboard ahead of Koepka and company before you slip on that jacket!
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 this idea back to co-founder, Clifford Roberts, and they chose green for the colour of the jackets that August National members would wear.
2. The first Green Jacket to be awarded to a winner of the Masters Tournament was in 1947 when Sam Snead won.
3. In 1937, club officials started the custom of Augusta National members wearing a green blazer during Masters week so patrons could identify reliable sources of information. The club extended the tradition to Masters champions with Sam Snead’s win in 1947, indicating the winners were to become honorary members of Augusta National.
4. The previous year’s winner awards the Green Jacket to the winner of the Masters each year. If the winner is a returning champion from last year, the Augusta National president has the honour of presenting the returning champion with the green jacket.
5. The first Masters champion to win the Green Jacket two years in a row was Jack Nicklaus in 1966. Nicklaus won The Masters six times during his career.
6. The first international golfer to wear the Green Jacket was South African golfer Gary Player, who won The Masters in 1961.
7. The Green Jacket that the Masters champion puts on at the ceremony is not the actual jacket he will keep. This jacket is owned by Augusta National Golf Club and must be returned 12 months later before the Masters.
8. Winners are presented with a replica Green Jacket that they may keep to commemorate their win of the Masters tournament.
9. Winners of the Masters must wear their Green Jacket whenever they play at Augusta National or visit.
10. To make sure that the champion will have a jacket that fits, there are several Green Jackets in various sizes stored on site at Augusta National. As the tournament concludes, employees begin to pull jackets in the sizes of the top players to have a correct sized Green Jacket ready for the winner.
