Today's Highlights

• All buckled in
• Think Pink
• Bette & Court at its best in 2008

NEWS

Lija launches new program

Golf and sportswear company Lija launches its Female Teaching Professionals Program designed to enhance brand awareness while establishing a network of ambassadors at marquee clubs and resorts throughout North America.

Ecco rolls out new 2008 line

Ecco introduces its spring/summer 2008 men's golf collection with several new designs, including the revolutionary C-Force series, which incorporates a Carbon Force Plate through the brand's unique direct-injection technology.

Johnson joins TMaG tour staff

Dustin Johnson, the world's third-ranked amateur, joins the TaylorMade-adidas Golf tour staff, and will make his professional debut this week's Valero Texas Open. As part of the deal, Johnson will wear Adidas footwear, eyewear and apparel.

FEATURE

All buckled in

By Megan Jones
GPA Correspondent

"I believe we are seeing a long-term shift in golf fashion: Out with the pleated khakis, in with the micro-fiber and lots of color and flash."

So says Trevor Derrheim, a professional golf instructor who has launched his own company, 59 Belts, to sell high-end belt buckles designed to be interchangeable with a wide variety of belts.

Flashy? Oh, yeah. Instead of a boring square, think designs like Canadian Maple Leaf (introduced in a soft launch at the Canadian Women's Open in August. Think Union Jack, "The Brit." Think Hammer and Sickle (a replica of the old Russian flag, and Derrheim's current favorite).

But 59 Belts (www.59belts.com) has paired flashy with functional. The design allows the wearer to change belts of different colors, as well as of different widths, with the pinch of a spring clip -- a trick Derrheim said helps the buckle maintain a low profile against the body. The result is a cleaner look, because the belt begins and ends under the buckle.

Derrheim is currently going through the final manufacturing process. Sixteen prototypes have been cleared.

"Belts and buckles, especially nice buckles, are hard to come by," Derrheim said. "I'm trying to change that. I'm trying to jump the curve when it comes to what people expect and what they get."

Although this is his first venture into golf fashion, Derrheim is familiar with what works, and what doesn't, on the course. He has taught golf for 12 years, and was a certified instructor for David Leadbetter in the late 1990s. He has worked with Per Ulrik Johansson, John Riegger and A.J. Eathorne.

Currently he owns an instruction business, ProMotion Golf, located at Dragon Ridge Country Club in Las Vegas.

Derrheim said he was inspired to enter the golf apparel market after noticing a fashion gap between the new performance wear being sported on both professional and amateur golfers, and old-school "cotton-era" belts.

His idea: to go high-end, ultra chic.

The buckles are milled to precise specifications from solid 303 stainless steel plates and other metals -- brass models will be available soon, Derrheim said -- engraved with a variety of logos and images. Custom designs are also available for anyone who has an image or brand they want created for the buckle; likewise, the company will engrave the back of the buckle to personalize the piece for the customer.

"The marks the machining leaves in the milled area is what really defines the '59 look,'" Derrheim said. "The machine marks really make the designs pop and add a brilliant contrast in one solid piece of metal."

That is why the company's U.S.A. model is a replica of the United States Air Force Roundel used on war planes, rather than the flag, Derrheim said.

"The Stars and Stripes would not have given us the milled look our designs are focused around," he said.

Such work won't come cheaply. Derrheim said prices would start around $200, depending on the metals and designs used. Each will arrive with the customer's belt of choice.

He does not make excuses for the belts' high price point. Like the rare score of 59 in golf, the buckles designed by 59 Belts are intended reflect an attitude and style achievable by only a select group (hence the company name).

"My pieces are expensive to make and beautiful," Derrheim said.

Derrheim has been pleasantly surprised with the reception his work has garnered so far. He took 24 buckles with him to the Canadian Open (coincidentally, the site was minutes from where he played his first round of golf in Devon, Alberta), most of them engraved with the names of specific players, he said.

He got 16 belts and Maple Leaf buckles in play for the tournament.

"I had around 10 other girls who approached me and wanted to wear the pieces," he said. "The response was awesome. A few players, such as Jill McGill, Lorena Ochoa, Se Ri Pak and Jennifer Rosales asked me to do custom buckles for them."

McGill said the buckles appeal to her because of their innovation.

"As a golfer I'm always looking for ways to express myself and his belts are great," she said. "And, the buckles transition nicely to street wear."

She is working with Derrheim on a lightning bolt design.

"I love the symbol and would wear it proudly in support of the San Diego Chargers," she said of the NFL team. "Trevor and I have talked about many different design possibilities that would relate to and express many different personalities. The quality of his product is unparalleled."

Derrheim plans to sell his products exclusively online at first. Depending on how the market responds, he said he could eventually place them in high-end men's stores, and perhaps golf clubs.

He is happy with his progress so far.

"I have always had a lot of ideas, to a point where my parents bother me about my great-uncle who always had ideas but never did anything about it," he said. "Eventually he died penniless.

"Wherever I go with this, I already consider myself successful, as I actually 'did' something and took it to market. It would be a huge bonus to make a living at it."