Scarce Antique Hickory Shaft Ouimet Stewart Benny Mashie Niblick Just Collection

As many of you who are active in hickory golf already know our good friend Mike Just, the owner of Louisville Golf, passed away recently after a long and courageous battle with cancer. Mike was a talented craftsman when it came to working with wood and working on clubs. Mike also played in numerous hickory events including pre 1900 gutty ball events and post 1900 hickory events. He carried on his personal life and his business “In The Spirit of the Game”. While not a huge collector of antique clubs, Mike enjoyed clubs from his home town of Louisville, Ky. Mike’s family recently entrusted me with his collection and I will offering it on eBay in the coming weeks. There should be a little something for hickory players and collectors alike so please check back often. This listing is for an antique vintage hickory shaft right handed 36" iron. Marked mashie Niblick. Lined face, 45* loft and a D 0 swingweight. This is a Benny style mashie niblick. Made by the famous cleek maker Tom Stewart of St Andrews Scotland. Has his famous Pipe cleek mark on the back along with his name and St Andrews in an oval. While a mashie niblick is a relatively common iron this one has a most unusual stamp on the back at the toe. The stamping is an S inside an O or circle (a bit faint). Francis Ouimet's unlikely victory at the 1913 U S Open will live forever. Ouimet was an amateur (the first amateur to win the U S Open) and always competed as an amateur much like the immortal Bobby Jones. In 1915 soon after his Open victory Ouimet and his future brother-in-law, James Sullivan (an amateur golfer of note in his own right), opened a full line sporting goods store in Boston. The store did stock golf clubs and they had the Store's name, Ouimet and Sullivan, stamped on the clubs by the makers. The USGA deemed this to be an indication of professionalism and declared Ouimet and Sullivan both professionals. Sullivan and Ouimet both fought the decision.  I suspect the USGA acted quickly and Ouimet, being the consummate amateur he was, never sold very many golf clubs with his name on them or perhaps even destroyed the remaining stock. During their battle with the USGA it is quite possible that they took their spelled out names off the clubs they sold (check out the Ouimet and Sullivan Tom Stewart jigger I currently have on eBay for an example) and replaced it with an S inside and O/circle in hopes of placating the USGA. In any event  you rarely see either Ouimet stamps. The Ouimet and Sullivan store was sold to Wannamaker's after Ouimet joined the army in 1917 and the USGA restored Ouimet's armature status. The head is clean and not all rusted. It has the expected minor play marks and dings. Please look at the zoom pictures for a better idea of condition. The shaft appears to be the original stamped hickory. It is stamped A L Johnson Boston. Johnson was another sporting goods retailer in Boston that sold many Tom Stewart irons. Did they shaft the Stewart clubs for Ouimet and Sullivan? It has a very minor bend in the grip area, I see no cracks and it is tight at the hosel. The grip is a replacement modern tacky long leather wrap that is in good playable condition. A very hard to find club that is ready to play out of the box or add to your collection.  Shipping in the US is calculated and based on a 2 pound box. The further you are from me in NC the more shipping will be-that is the way the carriers charge. Shipping  to foreign countries will be much higher and is also calculated. In accordance with the current Ebay policy I am only allowed to state that I accept payment via Paypal. NC residents must add sales tax.