The Jacket

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To understand the Jacket we must first understand that in which took place long before the Jacket came into existence.  You see it is believed that there is a connection between the Jacket and The Stone of Scone (Jacob's pillow in 1 Samuel 7:12) .  Some say the connection is real - some say it's simple folly and hearsay but let me explain and you can then decide if this story true or not.

It was told long ago that the material made to make the Green Jacket we know and love today was the very material that was placed around the stone that was positioned under the throne that the Kings of Scotland sat on for their coronation. 

Pictured covering the stone in the above pic you will see an artists rendition dated approximately 1240, just prior to King Edward 1 (Long Shanks) of England invasion of Scotland, but it was believed that when the stone was placed under the throne this simple piece of cloth always accompanied it.  The two were always together, there was never one without the other.  It is believed that like the stone the little piece of cloth wielded the same power and in fact may have eventually become even more powerful than the Stone of Scone itself.

We don't know how this piece of cloth somehow found its' way to Augusta Georgia in the United States of America, but some have said it was possibly a descendant from a member of the Knights Templar that delivered it to a master tailor that was designing the very first Green Jacket made for the 1949 Masters champion (Mr Samuel Snead).  Why such a valuable artifact was supposed to be part of one of golfing's greatest traditions is unknown to this day. 

The story goes that one of the tailors assistants fell in love with this beautiful jacket and couldn't bare to see it leave his sight; you see the Jacket has a mind of it's own, a longing if you will to somehow find it's way back to the throne of which it once was such an important part.  Somewhat under the Jackets spell this tailor's assistant decided to switch out the Jacket with a replica.  Understanding the depth of his deception the assistant then decided he couldn't risk being caught in this most heinous crime so left for a far off land.  A land so far away and remote that no one could ever find him or his precious Jacket, a land we know of today called the Peace Country in Northern Canada.  That assistant who's name we still don't know eventually died and due to his recluse tendencies had no family or friends of his own to clean up his estate.

Everything was to be put in the trash, but as one of the employees of the company responsible for this work recalls "there was something about that one piece of clothing, yes that Jacket, I think it was green if my memory's correct.  Yes I remember now, it was like it was calling out to me to have mercy on it.  I felt a deep sadness.  It seemed weird at the time but I just couldn't bare to see it thrown out.  It was the weirdest thing".

The story now takes an interesting turn, whether its fate or just blind luck, the Jacket was sent to a second hand store in the city of Grande Prairie Alberta.  It just so happened at around that time the youngest and least of the brothers of the Clarke clan had a dream.  As Cam describes it "I guess if I recall it correctly it was a dream, yes I had a dream one night that the All Mighty Himself wanted me to put together an event.  An event like no other in this whole world, a golfing event that would include my brethren in a competition of the greatest level.  In my mind I wondered what would be an appropriate prize that we would play for, and then it hit me, like a still small voice in the back of my unusually large head, A GREEN JACKET."

"Shortly after that dream I found myself in a second-hand shop in my home town Grande Prairie Alberta, Canada, it was almost like I was supposed to be there, it was like something was pulling me there."

Well as they say the rest is history, for over 30 years now we have been meeting together every year to compete for this most precious of prizes, a full year with the coveted Green Jacket.  Is there a reason why the Jacket picked us? I guess we'll never know.  Is it just happen stance or is it just all pure coincidence, we're really not sure.  Or could it actually be that the Jacket picked us because we are direct descendants of the last King of Scotland, King John Balliol (1249 - 1314) that was coronated with the Stone of Scone before Longshanks defeated Scotland and took the throne, the stone, and this little piece of fabric back to England.  

 Well we know where the throne is and stone along with it, but the little piece of cloth that for some reason was taken away from its beloved stone, well today that little piece of cloth is now called THE GREEN JACKET.