When someone wins the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial Country Club, they'll not only get a trophy and a boat load of money, they'll also slip on a plaid jacket.
Since the Ft. Worth tournament at Hogan's Alley is one of the longest-running tournaments on the PGA Tour schedule, the invitational event has its own deep history. However, the history of the plaid jacket at Colonial is a relatively new tradition.
This tournament dates back to World War II, but the plaid jacket tradition began in the 1952. When the tournament began in 1946, the winner received a navy blue jacket. However, six years later, the club switched to plaid. The club began making jackets with a tartan wool from overseas in Scotland. The idea was to pay tribute to the game's heritage, making the jackets available only to Colonial members and tournament winners. The club can award a jacket to volunteers, tournament committee members and others involved with the event, at their discretion.
The plaid design is different than the one from the RBC Heritage, featuring 10 colors in a unique twist on a plaid. Barry Smith, a Colonial Country Club member and owner Ft. Worth's William Barry Distinctive Apparel, has made the plaid jackets for the winner of the PGA Tour event at Colonial since the late 1980s.
As with the Masters, Smith and club officials eyeball the winner's profile and use a jacket from a collection they have on club property to use for the trophy presentation after the conclusion of the event. Then the winner is measured and fitted for a plaid jacket of their own.
However, the Colonial winners don't get to keep their jackets. They don't even get to wear them for a year, as Masters champions do. After the jackets are made, they're kept at the club for convenience and put in the lockers of winners each year when they arrive for the tournament.
