The sport of golf is quiet, relaxing, and slow-paced. It’s everything the game of hockey is not. It might be the most important sport on the calendar this weekend, as the famed Masters Tournament takes place in Augusta, Georgia.
Some dude named Tiger Woods is playing, and people are excited, but hockey fans would probably care more if this Tiger guy could score 40 goals like Alex Ovechkin.
One of the things The Masters is known for is the “green jacket” given to the champion, as well as each member of the ultra-exclusive golf club. Those green jackets might be the rarest piece of sports memorabilia after the Stanley Cup.
There’s only one Stanley Cup (well, technically two if you count the replica at the Hockey Hall of Fame), but there’s also an extremely limited number of green jackets, and none of them are allowed to leave the club except for that year’s Masters winner.
The Masters green jackets would look pretty cool on a hockey jersey.
Imagine how cool a Masters green jacket hockey jersey would look. The jacket is literally just a green sport coat with some fancy buttons and a logo patch, so it should be easy to design.
Augusta once had an ECHL team, the Augusta Lynx, with their name being a play on the phrase “hitting the links” to play golf and a Masters reference. They never tried a green jacket jersey, instead, their colors were blue and white.
Their claim to fame is being the only ECHL franchise to fold mid-season.
Meanwhile, the area’s minor league baseball team embraces the identity, calling themselves the “Augusta Green Jackets”. They have changed their name on special occasions to be called the “Pimento Cheese” after a sandwich famously served at the Masters Tournament.
While their jerseys are a close shade of green to those famous jackets, that’s where the similarities stop.
Imagine this: the closest NHL team to the Masters is the Carolina Hurricanes. For one night, around the time of the Masters, the Hurricanes wear the special green jacket jerseys in warmups as part of a Masters-themed night.
The Carolinas love golf, so it’s an event sure to draw a bit of local interest. Added points for puns if they happen to be playing the Columbus Blue Jackets. Maybe one of the region’s ECHL teams, the Atlanta Gladiators or Savannah Ghost Pirates, would be interested in the idea instead.
In today’s age of special promotion hockey jerseys, it’s a little surprising one of the sports world’s most iconic dress pieces hasn’t been made into an on-ice counterpart.
Golfers would love it, and hockey fans who are golfers would love it even more. Maybe they’ll even buy one and wear it out next time they hit the links on the green. It’d be hysterical for when your team gets knocked out of the playoffs and “hits the golf course”, as the old saying goes.