Horton Smith's Green Jacket Sets New Mark for Golf Memorabilia


The green jacket awarded to the winner of the very first Masters Tournament has sold for nearly $700,000, according to the auction company that handled the sale.

The jacket, which has gone to the winner of the major golf event held in April since 1949, was won by Horton Smith. Smith, a 32-time winner on the PGA Tour and a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame, was given the coat years after his 1934 victory at Augusta National Golf Club.

New Jersey-based Green Jacket Auctions, which oversaw the online auction on Sunday, said the jacket sold to an undisclosed bidder for $682,229.45.

According to the company, the jacket's price was the highest ever for a piece of golf memorabilia.

Smith's two-button, single-breasted green jacket, size 43 long, has been eyed by collectors for decades and was thought to be lost. It wasn't until a family member who had the jacket realized its value and called Green Jacket Auctions in July to report that it had been with the family since Smith's death in 1963.

Smith, who followed up his victory in 1934 with another Masters title two years later, played in every Masters Tournament until he died at age 55.

Among other career marks, Smith was the only player to defeat Bobby Jones - Augusta National's co-founder - at the Savannah Open in 1930, the year of Jones' fabled Grand Slam.