Augusta National Green Jacket

Green Jacket Auctions is proud to offer for auction an authentic Green Jacket. This Augusta National member's jacket is in exceptional condition. Like many Green Jackets, the owner's name has been removed to ensure the Augusta National member who once owned this jacket will remain forever nameless.  The idea for wearing green jackets began in the 1930's when an Augusta National member suggested that member's wear green coats when they host The Masters Tournament so that spectators would know whom to approach for questions and assistance. Green Jackets were exclusively for members until 1949, when they were first given to the winner of the Masters Tournament. Since 1967, the Hamilton Tailoring Company of Cincinnati, Ohio has been the exclusive producer of Green Jackets. This process includes piecing together the color Pantone 342 fabric from the Forstmann Company mill in Dublin, Georgia, the buttons from the famous Waterbury Button Company of Cheshire, Connecticut, and the Masters Patch from the A&B Emblem Company in Weaverville, North Carolina.

Augusta National Green Jackets are extremely rare, and only a handful have ever been sold publicly. Even casual golf fans have heard about Augusta National Golf Club's extreme protection of the Green Jackets given to their members and Champions. Much of this information, however, is either untrue or greatly exaggerated. It is true that Augusta National Golf Club is currently relatively protective over the Green Jackets, but this was not always the case. In the past, many members and past Champions have owned multiple Green Jackets and would often keep their jacket at their home, not at Augusta National Golf Club. Sam Snead said that he owned several Green Jackets over the years, and even "lost" one. Members are allowed to order replacement jackets with no requirement that their previous jacket be returned or destroyed. Members have even reportedly been allowed to be buried in their Green Jackets! Green Jackets have also been given as gifts by members on many occasions, most notably the Green Jacket given by Bobby Jones to a family friend that was famously sold at public auction for almost $100,000 in the late 1990's. It has also been widely reported about Gary Player refusing to return his Green Jacket to Augusta National after his year as reigning Masters Champion expired. What most people do not realize is that the returning of the jackets was a new rule that was put in place by Augusta National. Previous Masters Champions never had to return their jackets. In fact, many past Champions or their family members still have those Masters Champions Green Jackets, and at least one is known to be in a private collection.  Gary Player isn't the only Masters Champion to skirt this infamous rule, either.  In April 2002, the Observer Sports Monthly reported that Seve Ballesteros also refused to return his Green Jacket.  And last but not least, many golf collectors have heard the story of the Green Jacket that was found for $5 at a Toronto thrift shop in the early 1990's.  That jacket currently resides in a collection in the U.K, and is presently the subject of an article in the 2007 Masters Preview edition of Golf International Magazine. 

No item better signifies Major Championship golf than a Green Jacket. Whether this Green Jacket ends up in a museum, on display at a country club, or in the winning bidder's closet, it will surely be the centerpiece of any golf collection.