The Butler Cabin Green Jacket Ceremony Will Look Very Different This Year

In a bid to make the traditional-but-often-stilted Green Jacket ceremony more appealing, Augusta National Golf Club will institute several changes in 2022. Some of the changes can be traced to the needs of documentary crews filming for the forthcoming Netflix series, which initiated conversations about inside access to the ceremony and an overall view of members whose grandchildren say the club needs to appeal to the “next generation.”

Sources cautioned that the changes recently outlined in a memo to the Butler Cabin And Wine Cellar Committee remain fluid and may be subject to change after rehearsals with CBS. But the Club expects all or most of the ceremony modifications to be incorporated when this year’s winner is given the Green Jacket.

In the most shocking change, Jim Nantz will step aside from his ceremony-hosting duties after 27 years. CBS’s more youthful Amanda Balionis and Colt Knost have been tabbed to interview the champion after a successful test run at this year’s WM Open’s 16th hole. Sources say Nantz has never been more loved by the club, and that the move is a pure youth play aimed at a demographic willing to wear Birdie Juice rope caps.
The highlight package used to bridge the gap from tournament completion to Butler Cabin ceremony will be replaced by a pre-taped trick shot performance from Dude Perfect. Filmed recently at Amen Corner and featuring Bryson DeChambeau, the club sees the Dudes as a more festive lead-in thanks to their faith-based, giant lawn dart trick shots.
The 2022 Champion will be allowed to leave his cap on inside Butler Cabin. Should the winner choose, he can wear it backwards in a subtle nod to millennialism and better face lighting for the inevitable tears of joy. Netflix reportedly lobbied hard to letting the Champion switch into their preferred private jet attire of hoodie, joggers and sneakers. But time constraints and logo-exposure issues tabled the idea.
The winner of the Augusta National Women’s Amateur, as well as all age group winners in the Drive, Chip and Putt will be flown in and positioned on green suede sofas made from repurposed carpet fibers. They will be behind the Champion, the defending Champion and Low Amateur, who will sit on vintage bar stools instead of Butler Cabin’s traditional wood furniture. Consideration was given to covering the Butler Cabin fireplace and installing a fire pit in lieu of a coffee table, but the idea was scrapped by the club’s Fire Marshal.
Chairman Fred Ridley will take off his tie and go with an open-collared dress-shirt look. He also will not shave all week in hopes of sporting some stubble by Sunday. The aesthetic was crafted in consultation with the club’s tailor and Netflix’s hair and make-up team. Ridley also reportedly tested out a hoodie-under-the-blazer motif. “We just couldn’t find the right color hoodie to go with the Green Jacket and Fred worried about his mobility wearing so many layers. The last thing he wants is a repeat of the Bubba-Billy handshake whiff, but the Netflix people thought that would be hilarious.