1934 & 1936 Masters Champion
Horton Smith’s Green Jacket

FROM HORTON SMITH FAMILY

“We found it…”

-Green Jacket Auctions’ Bob Zafian to Ryan Carey, July 27, 2013, upon learning the whereabouts of 1934 & ’36 Masters Champion Horton Smith’s Original Green Jacket.

        That’s all that needed to be said. You see, almost every Masters Champion’s Green Jacket was accounted for; well, all but arguably the most coveted of them all – the Green Jacket from the very first Masters Champ, Horton Smith.

        Tracking down Green Jackets has become a passion here at Green Jacket Auctions. But when it came to Horton Smith’s Green Jacket, it’s not that the trail went cold, it’s that it never even started. Augusta National didn’t have it. The World Golf Hall of Fame didn’t either. In fact, no one we spoke with ever even recalled hearing about it or seeing it – save for a couple dusty old photos of Horton wearing it. Soon, our quest to locate and catalog the whereabouts of every Green Jacket seemed destined for failure. We began to worry that Horton Smith’s jacket may no longer even exist. After all, to many in the 1940’s, 50’s and even later, it was simply “a” jacket – a commemorative garment given for golfing prowess many years before. That garment didn’t become “The Green Jacket” until decades later. Even in 1975, at the Green Jacket ceremony for the great Jack Nicklaus, the garment was simply referred to as “the green coat” – exemplifying its lack of reverence even then.

The Story

        Without further ado, we present Horton Smith’s Masters Green Jacket, complete with family provenance.

        As it turns out, Horton Smith’s Green Jacket was with his family – just not the family we expected. When Horton Smith passed away in 1963, the bulk of his estate, including his Green Jacket, passed to his brother Ren Smith. When Ren passed away, Ren’s 2nd wife inherited the jacket, which she later left to her two sons, who still own the Green Jacket today. Now, since the jacket has just been sitting in a closet for many years, the owners would prefer to sell the jacket and see it find a fitting home in a museum or with one of our collectors.

The "Original 10"

        Augusta National first awarded the Green Jacket to Masters Champions in 1949, beginning with Sam Snead, and at the same time retroactively awarded jackets to the 9 former Masters Champs that had won the Masters from 1934-1948, including Horton Smith. Those jackets are affectionately referred to as the "Original 10".

       The offered jacket is that exact Green Jacket that was awarded to Horton Smith in 1949 - the only one of the "Original 10" Green Jackets to ever be offered for public sale.

Condition/Notes: The jacket is in exceptional overall condition, with no important condition issues to note. Jacket is a two-button single breasted model. Size 43L, Model 357X jacket. Two smooth brass buttons on front of jacket, and single smooth brass button on each cuff. Amalgamated Workers 1949 Series tag. No manufacturer is listed, though this is consistent with other known early Green Jackets that are attributed to Brooks Uniform Co. Augusta National Golf Club & former Chairman Clifford Roberts have both been quoted as stating that these original 1949 Green Jackets were produced by Brooks Uniform Co.

Conclusion

        Once believed to be lost forever, the offered original 1949 jacket is not only the supreme Masters Champion Green Jacket ever offered publicly for sale, but it comes with impeccable family provenance and unquestionable title of ownership. It goes without saying that no "new" Green Jackets can be expected to enter the hobby any time soon. Or ever.

Letter of Authenticity from Horton Smith's heir; Letter of Authenticity from Green Jacket Auctions (GJA)

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