Las Vegas, Nevada (March 17, 2010)–Trevor Derrheim has made a name for himself on the Las Vegas golf scene as a top-flight instructor. Now, he’s making a name for himself on the world-wide golf scene with ‘59,’ a unique style of belt buckle that is turning heads in Las Vegas (which is tough to do) as well as on the professional golf circuits.—By Bill Bowman
Derrheim has worked with the swings of players such as former UNLV standout Ryan Moore, John Riegger, Per Ulrik Johansson, Brent Geiberger, Matt Kuchar and the LPGA Tour’s A.J. Eathorne. It’s taken patience to help mold swings, but that’s nothing compared with the patience of coming up with the ’59’ brand of custom belt buckles (check out Derrheim’s belt buckle line and client list) that are being sported by some of the top names in professional golf. The Las Vegas golf region is not only the home to top-level teaching pros like Derrheim, but also more than 50 Las Vegas golf courses including highly-rated Primm Valley Golf Club, two sparkling Tom Fazio designs just 30 minutes south of Las Vegas. Click here to check out the website for Primm Valley Golf Club.
“It’s pretty exciting stuff,” Derrheim says of the impact his belts have made on the PGA Tour, LPGA Tour and Nationwide Tour. Players such as Mike Weir, Alex Prugh, Tommy Armour III, Stuart Appleby, Ji Yai Shin, Yani Tseng, Daniel Chopra and others are sporting Derrheim’s one-of-a-kind buckles. And we do mean one-of-a-kind. "We create custom designs for people who may have a unique design or logo or just initials they want to show off.” Each belt buckle is individually machine milled from stainless steel on a CNC milling machine in the United States.
Derrheim adds the dream of ‘59’ happened in 2006, about a year and a half before guys like Anthony Kim and Rory Sabbatini started sporting flashy belt buckles. “Their exposure has certainly helped expose 59,” Derrheim says, “And now, every couple of months, I have players coming up to me and asking how they can be a part of this…how they can get involved. It’s growing at a rate where I feel that I can maintain quality control, personal customer service and most importantly the identity of the brand and that’s fine with me.”
And the list keeps growing as Derrheim has recently added the PGA Tour’s Nathan Green, Jamie Lovemark, Spencer Levin, Chris Wilson and Chris Kirk. “It's a real challenge on tour when you are competing with billion dollar companies that are paying players to wear their product. We don't pay a single player on any tour to wear 59, yet our total buckle count on the PGA Tour, LPGA Tour and Nationwide Tour combined is nearing 50,” Derrheim says.
Custom buckles run from $275-$400 depending on the intricacy of the design a person comes up with. If it can fit in the parameters of a belt buckle, it can be designed. 59 also offers some less expensive but popular catalog designs that are also milled from 303 solid stainless steel and bare the '59' logo. "I have a very talented machinist who continues to amaze me with his work,” Derrheim adds. “More people are recognizing the ‘59’ brand now and it helps. Players who get the belts and buckles are impressed with the quality and durability of the product. Some of them will not wear any other belt after wearing ours.” Derrheim is carving out another niche in the golf world that he’s proud of. And he’s certain it’s going to keep growing…even world-wide. “I really love creating buckles for my customers that they have an actual emotional attachment to. If I can accomplish that and make a little money along the way, that’s fantastic.”