Charles Schwab Challenge: Why Does the Winner Get a Tartan Plaid Jacket?

The green jacket at the Masters. The red cardigan at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. The blue blazer at the WM Phoenix Open. A handful of tournaments on the men’s golf offer signature apparel to the winners. The royal plaid jacket on offer at the Charles Schwab Challenge is also part of a special tradition.

It’s one of the most historic events on the PGA Tour calendar. Outside of the Masters, the Charles Schwab Challenge is the only tournament on the Tour that has been hosted on the same course since the beginning. The signature Scottish tartar jacket is also part of its long-running history.

The Charles Schwab Challenge honors golf’s heritage in Scotland

The tartan jacket is presented to celebrate the golf’s Scottish history. The earlier version of modern-day golf originated on the eastern coast of Scotland. During the High Middle Ages, players would hit a pebble with a bent stick over sand dunes. Modern-day golf took shape a few centuries later, thanks to royal patronization. 

The St. Andrews Society of Golf formed in 1754. A decade later, the Home of Golf formed its first 18-hole course. In 1834, King William IV bestowed the club with the title ‘Royal & Ancient’. The tartan jacket celebrates that legacy. However, it wasn’t until 1952 that the Colonials decided to don the champions with a Tartan jacket. 

Before that, winners received a navy blue jacket. Ben Hogan was the first champion to earn a royal jacket in 1952. It’s perhaps fitting because Hogan is the most successful golfer at the Charles Schwab Challenge, winning the title five times in his career.

Colonial makes the jacket from tartan wool from Scotland. The champions, though, don’t get to keep it for a year. It rests in the locker room for every champion. Interestingly, the Charles Schwab Challenge is not the only tournament where the winner receives a royal plaid jacket.

How does it differ from the plaid at RBC Heritage?

RBC Heritage is another tournament that gives the winner a similar jacket. The rationale is also the same as the Charles Schwab Challenge: to honor the history of golf in Scotland. The RBC Heritage, other than the champions, also offers the ‘Heritage Plaid’ to the amateurs who pay to tee off in the Pro-Am of the event. 

Only Colonial members and the winners receive a Royal Tartar Jacket at the Charles Schwab Challenge. Barry Smith, a member of the Colonials, has been designing the plaid for the last three decades. The Charles Schwab Challenge will tee off on Thursday, May 23.