Contact: Ryan Carey, President 813.504.3935 or ryan@greenjacketauctions.com
Bob Zafian, VP-Director of Acquisitions 973.627.5133 or bob@greenjacketauctions.com
First Masters Tournament Champion Horton Smith’s Green Jacket Has Been Found
TAMPA, Florida – Long believed lost forever, the first Masters Tournament Champion Horton Smith’s Green Jacket has been found, and is expected to fetch over $100,000 at auction next week.
Last month, golf memorabilia auction house Green Jacket Auctions received a call that it knew would immediately send shockwaves throughout the golf community. Said the caller: “I think my family has something that people have been looking for.” Sure enough, hanging in the back of a closet in San Jose, California was one of golf’s Holy Grails – the original Green Jacket from 1934 & 1936 Masters Champion Horton Smith.
The Masters Tournament began awarding Green Jackets to its Champions at the 1949 Masters when newly minted Champ Sam Snead and the 9 previous Masters Winners were first given their jackets. These so-called “Original 10” Green Jackets are among the most coveted pieces of modern golf history – the bulk of which are owned by Augusta National Golf Club or the World Golf Hall of Fame. But the Green Jacket awarded to the first Masters Champion, Horton Smith, has been “lost” for decades. As it turns out, a distant relative of Horton Smith owns the jacket, which his family kept tucked away in a closet for many years – never knowing that the golf world was even searching for it until recently.
Inaugural Masters Tournament Champion Horton’s Smith’s Green Jacket is currently up for auction on www.GreenJacketAuctions.com. Early bidding on the jacket surpassed $60,000 within 24 hours of the auction commencing. The jacket is expected to fetch in excess of $100,000.00 – making it among the highest prices ever paid for a piece of golf memorabilia.
About the Auction
Green Jacket Auctions’ Summer Golf Auction is currently open for bidding and will conclude on Saturday, September 7, 2013. The auction features almost 400 lots of rare golf memorabilia. Auction items, including the Green Jacket, are available for photos and viewing in New Jersey. For more details, visit http://www.GreenJacketAuctions.com
Other auction highlights:
The Oldest Known Golf Scorecard from 1822 – Estimate: $5,000+
Original Programs from 1934 and 1935 Masters Tournament – Estimate: $10,000+ Each
About Green Jacket Auctions, Inc.
Green Jacket Auctions, with offices in Tampa, FL and Denville, NJ, is the largest online golf antiques and memorabilia auction house in the world. It hosts quarterly auctions of rare golf memorabilia, which are participated in by collectors and institutions in over 50 countries.
