Sometimes you just need a place that sets your mind at ease, somewhere else other than your home or your work that gives you a different headspace and allows you to be creative. For me, that's the Neighborhood Golf Shop. Located on 3rd and Stark in Portland, Ore., the shop is equal parts art space, golf retail shop, training facility, and clubhouse. It's a genuinely unique entity in the golfing world, and it's also where the Cash Roll golf ball marker was born.
Matchstick faithful have shown their love for the Cash Stack golf ball marker over our first year in business. It's the top seller by a large margin, with the adage of "drive for show, putt for dough" front and center for many of our customers. The wad of bills is a nod to my dad, Mark, who in true fatherly fashion rolls around with an old school money clip.
Meanwhile, I got to thinking this winter that Matchstick needed to have a ball marker that kept that same spirit — where big swings lead to big payouts — but felt like it was more for my generation. Enter the Cash Roll.
Designed to look like a wad of 100s gained from cash games on the golf course (or however else you may glean your paper) the Cash Roll is for those of us who grew up gambling and carrying our dollars in less organized fashion.
The idea for the Cash Roll implanted in my mind, as winter turned to spring I found myself down at the Neighborhood Golf Shop with some frequency. Whether it was to hit balls and tighten the swing mid-day, chop it up with Max and Drew Reinland, or to get a change of scenery as I worked on my laptop at my day job, the shop was a respite.
As trips to Muni Kids HQ became more frequent, I made sure I always brought my laptop with me to work on Matchstick as a break or as I finished up my regular work. Eventually, as I waited for Max to finish with his day so we could go grab a cocktail, I started working on drawings for markers. The Cash Roll, designed from the same bones as the Cash Stack, wound up taking shape on the south wall of golf shop as the days went by. Out the window, a pipe company and urban murals set the tone for each iteration, the thwack of golf balls behind me as the protective curtain shielded me from Drew's swing lessons.
It wasn't easy to finish — drawing the roll, with the bills laminated in the middle was a difficult task. I showed it off to those passing through the shop and to Max and Drew, looking for input from the family. A design has to work not just on the large computer screen, but when pressed and painted onto metal at 1.25" and 2.5mm thick.
Once finished, the Cash Roll became one of my favorite designs. The familiar face of the Cash Stack ball mark on its front, the response from many in our little Portland golf community was extremely positive. They wanted to play with the money you kept in the safe, under the bed.
Now you can, and I'm extremely happy I can say that the Cash Roll mark was the first golf ball marker that Matchstick has drawn entirely within the confines of the Neighborhood Golf Shop. I'm sure it won't be the last.
Get the Cash Roll golf ball marker right now by clicking here.
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