After a long day on the range teaching junior golfers in Las Vegas back in 2006, Trevor Derrheim came up with an idea to create a milled-buckle to complement the new micro-fiber clothing and Euro-styling trends that were becoming red-hot in golf at the time.

“I honestly knew nothing — no fashion background or business degree,” Derrheim said, “but I have always had a great imagination, determination and focus when I really get into something I believe in.”

By the spring of 2007, Derrheim’s brainchild, 59 Belts, had opened shop in Las Vegas and after months of prototyping the first buckles that met his approval were finally ready.

“With the Canadian Women’s Open coming up,” Derrheim said, “I decided I would take the first 20 or so buckles ever made straight to the LPGA Tour to be tested.”

Derrheim flew to Edmonton to hand the buckles – stainless “Canuck” (Maple Leaf) styled and personally engraved with the name of each player, the event and the date on the back of each – out to a select group of players he felt might appreciate the Maple Leaf theme and also support 59.

“I managed to get 16 buckles in play that week and Lorena Ochoa won the event wearing her 59 ‘Canuck’ belt on Friday and Saturday,” Derrheim said.

That’s right, 59 not only debuted on a major golf tour but was also worn by the eventual champion.

Derrheim recalls being worried that a buckle wouldn’t work right or fall apart. Quite the contrary, the reaction he received during and after the event from the players was overwhelmingly positive.

“It was very shoot from the hip kind of stuff looking back at it,” he said. “I was just a golf instructor with an idea who did something about it. Those were great times and I owe a lot to those girls who gave me the inspiration to keep grinding.”

It wasn’t too long after when PGA Tour pro Brian Gay sported a 59 buckle while winning the OHL Classic at Mayakoba in 2008.

After a couple years, Derrheim transitioned away from teaching to concentrate more fully on what is today a nearly $500K business, although he says he still sees the occasional student as time permits.

Independently run with everything customized and made in the USA, 59 primarily mills from solid high-grade aluminum or 303 stainless steel stock. The company is also launching an exotic buckle line in the next month or so that will include Damascus, Mokume Gane and also gold-plated options. The exotic buckles are going to be extremely unique one-of-a-kind pieces. The price of 59 buckles ranges from $50 in aluminum up to $1,500 for the exotics. 59 makes just a handful of buckles a day, one at a time, and the workmanship reflects that effort.

“From the beginning, the goal was to produce a product that would outlast any other in the game,” Derrheim said. “I really believe we achieved that with 59 and continue to set the benchmark for quality. We don’t mass produce; instead, every single buckle is individually milled and hand finished. Our goal is to a make classy buckles that will outlast the user. From a brand perspective, 59 is about full commitment, the total sacrifice to be better. The number ‘59’ in golf will always signify excellence and the constant struggle to achieve perfecting something that cannot be perfected. If 59 were a body part, we would be the calloused hands of a golfer.”

Over the past seven years, several prominent Tour players have worn 59 at one time or another including Rory McIlory, Rickie Fowler, Keegan Bradley, Sergio Garcia, Jordan Spieth, Paula Creamer, Annika Sorenstam and Yani Tseng.

The company is finalizing a new strap attachment system that will allow traditional style straps to fit on a 59 buckle, the goal of which Derrheim says is to make 59 buckles more user friendly to the public and to pave the way for entry into a more traditional retail environment.

While having a buzz around your products is nice, Derrheim admits, he is much more focused on the long-term.

“I think it’s pretty easy to get wrapped up into what is going on now and to forget about forming a plan for who you are as a brand and how you want to spread that message,” he said. “I also think it is important to actually have a message that people can relate to. 59 is that one kid who is the last one off the course or range every night. Every facility has that kid… That is our brand message. It’s never been about making money for me. Maybe that’s a terrible thing to say as a business owner, but I’ve never needed much to be happy. I really just wanted to make something people could take into battle and appreciate being part of.”