Jock Hutchinson's 1936 Masters Clubhouse Badge

    In the 1930's, past Champions of all major championships were invited to attend The Augusta National Invitational (changed to The Masters Tournament in 1938). As a past PGA Championship and British Open winner, Hutchinson began playing the Masters in 1935 and played off and on for the rest of his life. Despite winning both the British Open and PGA Championship, Jock Hutchinson is most well-known for, along with Fred Mcleod, being the honorary starter at the Masters for many years. The practice of having an honorary starter to "kickoff" the Masters Tournament officially began in 1961, but Hutchinson had been starting the tournament and then withdrawing as far back as the 1936 Masters.

    Presented here is Hutchinson's Clubhouse badge from that 1936 Masters Tournament. [His real name is Jack Fowler "Jock" Hutchinson]  This is the only known 1936 Masters Clubhouse badge in existence today - and the fact that it belonged to a Masters legend is simply incredible. When contacted about this badge, Augusta National acknowledged that their extensive collection does not contain any 1936 Clubhouse Badges.