The twelve-club matched set of RTJ irons pictured above was made by Tom Stewart, the famous St Andrews cleekmaker. It is also the very set pictured and discussed in The Clubmakers Art volume 1 pages 142-143.  This set last sold at the 2007 Sotheby's Jeffery B. Ellis Antique Golf Club Collection auction as lot 141.  (And what a treat it is for me to see these clubs again!)

This set consists of a “Driving Mashie, 1 Iron, 2 Iron, 3 Iron, 4 Iron, Mashie Iron, Mashie, Spade Mashie, Mashie Niblick, Niblick, Cleek, and Putter.” In addition to Stewart’s “clay pipe" trademark, each iron bears three other interesting marks on the toe: a foreman’s mark, Stewart’s personal mark, and the “RTJ” mark.  Stewart’s foremen used various marks, such as a crow crow’s foot, a fish, a triangle, etc., to identify who inspected and/or worked on the head. Stewart’s personal inspection stamp was a round dot punched into the back of the blade. As Grantland Rice wrote in 1953,  "[When Stewart] himself personally inspected a club head and finished it off there's a round dot punched in it. Bobby Jones had a lot of copies made of his favorite clubs and they all bore the little round dot (Rice 1953, 174)."

The initials “R.T.J.,” also stamped on each iron, are those of the legendary Robert Tyre Jones Jr.  Bobby Jones, as he was known, is still considered by many the greatest player the game has ever known. 

In 1929 Bobby Jones’s personal set of clubs was stolen from the trunk of his car but returned to him shortly afterwards. Following this experience and using his personal specifications, Jones ordered a “backup” set of irons from Stewart. Jones, the consummate amateur, authorized Stewart to produce only a single set of irons. However, Tom Stewart, the opportunistic businessman, did not stop production after fulfilling Jones’s request. Clearly aware that Jones was at the top of the golf world, Stewart began to reproduce the clubs he made for Jones. These clubs were marked with Jones’s initials “RTJ” in block letters on the toe or with “FO\RTJ” in script on the toe. The initials “FO” identify another famous amateur: Francis Ouimet.

These “personal” models were made in 1930, and possibly briefly during 1931. Stewart’s catalog for 1930 offers, “Sets of Iron Heads made as used by Mr. Robert T. Jones.”  The only advertisement for these clubs the auctioneer is aware of is found in the 1931 Fraser's International Golf Year Book which reads, “R.T.J. Model. Pipe Brand (Tom Stewart), with Shock Absorber Shaft.” Such an advertisement would have been submitted before the dose of 1930, only months after Jones had won the Grand Slam. There was, however, one problem: Stewart did not have Jones’s authorization to produce clubs bearing Jones’s initials.

In producing these clubs for sale, Stewart, never intending to hurt Jones, was only trying to capitalize on Bob’s fame. Tom Stewart stopped producing his RTJ copies at the request of Jones, the preeminent golfer who was also a prominent attorney.

Despite being offered as sets, Stewart “RTJ” irons were not always sold as sets. Legend has it that Stewart was a shrewd businessman and, for the short period of time he was offering the RTJ irons, Stewart would send only a few to a good distributor or retailer whose account was paid up, and then only in conjunction with another healthy order. Judging from the few remaining sets of RTJ or RTJ/FO irons, this seems quite possible.

When considering the idea of a twelve-club set of irons, remember that the USGA did not limit the number of clubs a player could carry until January 1, 1938. Lawson Little at one time carried twenty-three or twenty-four clubs, including eight different types of niblicks. The USGA initially decided on a sixteen-club limit, but they changed the limit to fourteen clubs before the rule became effective. The R&A followed with an identical rule on May 1, 1939.

This set has its original shafts and leather wrapped grips and was used very little, though there are minor vise marks on some of the heads.  Condition as shown in the images.