It’s not easy to find symbolism draped on a clothes hanger, but the blue tweed jacket awarded to Mongrel Masters champions is no more a simple article of clothing than the Mongrel Masters is just a golf tournament. It’s the least recognised garment in the game, perhaps in all of sports.

The pattern of a table cloth, the jacket represents mediocrity, sledging, intense competition and success, all played out on the most infamous stage in golf. Even the casual golf fan knows that each new Mongrel Masters champion not only wins one of the most prestigious golf tournaments in the world, he also wins the blue tweed coat. At the awards ceremony, the just-crowned champion is helped into his jacket by the previous year’s winner before an admiring crowd and wildly flashing media cameras.

According to four-time Masters champion Ramrod Ramsey, "A golfer experiences few feelings that are any greater. The blue tweed jacket stands for a lot more than just winning the Mongrel Masters. It stands for a mongrel like Chad Todd and his legacy to the game. It stands for a man like Long Drive Cliffy, the worst golfer ever to swing a club, who has given his heart and soul to the tournament itself. It stands for the world’s worst golf tournament with the world’s worst golfers, it stands for the most beautiful golf course in the world, and it stands for achievement through attrition and adversity. The Mongrel Masters jacket epitomizes imperfection in golf."

But the blue tweed jacket had a humble beginning. Found at the Avalon Red Cross disposal store on the eve of the 1991 Masters by Harold P Ouvrier and Noni Scanlon with a $5 price tag. "We wanted something that symbolised the tournament, which the Champion could wear with pride amongst their peers," Ouvrier said in an interview. He revealed that because the jacket is extremely small that some of the Champions weren’t overly enthusiastic about wearing the blue tweed jacket at first, but they became accustomed to the practice over time. "The larger sized winners, Noni Scanlon and Johno Johnson, found breathing a bit hard when wearing the jacket. Their faces turned blue mirroring the colour of the jacket. However they were aware of the poignancy and the honour of wearing the blue tweed. "

There is some debate amongst the Champions on whether to refer to the garment as a "coat" instead of a "jacket." By whatever name, the Mongrel Masters jacket is a three-button, single-breasted jacket made from three metres of polyester table cloth with a rayon lining. Its home is a moth infested closet inside the clubhouse walls.

Mongrel Masters winners are awarded the blue tweed jacket after they complete their round. Traditionally, champions take them home for a year, and wear them only for golf-related events and social gatherings. The jacket is not allowed to be used in conjunction with any commercial advertising. In all other instances, the coat is worn only at the club.

"The Mongrel Masters and the blue tweed jacket are all about the finest traditions of golf," 1992 Champion Johno Johnson says. "They are part of the history of the game, and very important ones at that."

Johnson’s sentiment is echoed by 1985 champion Harold Ouvrier.

"The blue tweed jacket is something that goes along so well with the tradition of the Mongrel Masters," he says. "It’s the symbol of the Masters champion. It’s part of the tradition that really sets the Masters apart."

Three time Champion, Noni Scanlon , who has made the annual trek to Palm Beach since the tournament’s inception, agrees. "When you go to the Champions Dinner and look around at the previous year’s winner in the blue tweed jacket, you realize you’re a member of one of the most exclusive groups of people in the world," he says.

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