The Augusta Masters Green Jacket is one of the most recognizable symbols of world professional golf. This garment represents the values not only of the club, but of golf at the highest level. It is surely the most coveted object by golfers around the world, since it is awarded exclusively to the winners of the first Grand Slam of the calendar.
This jacket began to be used in 1937 by members of the Augusta National Golf Club. The reason why the members began to wear this garment was that, at that time, they were responsible for each hole, therefore they needed a garment that distinguished them from the rest of the public present in the competition.
At first, the members complained bitterly about the obligation to wear the jacket, because the tournament was held in April and the cloth with which it was made was particularly thick. Over time, lighter materials have been chosen to make it more comfortable.
Currently, each of the more than 300 members of the club -the president of Santander Ana Patricia Botin among them – has his own tailored jacket. The color used is Masters green, which the club itself patented.
1949 marks the difference in the history of this mythical jacket, from this year the winner of the Masters begins to be rewarded with it. It is the property of the champion, however, he can only have it for one year, after which time the jacket is returned to the club, where he can wear it whenever he visits Augusta National.
the ill-fated Seve Ballesteros He always commented that he never returned the ones he won in 1980 and 1983. He became “Swedish” as they say. They are in the room-museum that he expanded over time in a wing of his house in Pedreña, along with the three British Silver Jugs, the Ryder Cup…
The jacket is made to measure once the tournament is won, however the one worn on the first day is loaned by a club member who has a similar build to the winner.
It is delivered by the outgoing champion to the incoming champion first in a ceremony in the Butler Cabin exclusively for CBS and in the presence of the President of the Club, and later next to the putting green in the official delivery with all the members of Augusta National.
Txema Olazábal and Sergio García they are the other two Spaniards who have it hanging in their ‘locker’ when they arrive in Augusta every year.
