Matchstick Golf makes the ball marker you end up explaining to your playing partners. A Putterade shaped like the plastic sports drink bottle from the late ’90s. Devil Horns for the guy with a speaker on his cart. An Old Fashioned with a cigar smoking on the rim. A kid doing the Truffle Shuffle. Each one is a small joke, and the joke is the point: Dane Delgado started Matchstick believing a marker should “tell a story about a golfer, give them confidence when lining up their putt, and invite an inquiry.”
So why buy from a one-designer shop in North Portland instead of grabbing a marker at the pro shop? Because Matchstick fixed what makes most markers annoying. Every one is magnetic, hand painted and polished, USGA conforming and small enough not to deflect a playing partner’s putt, with no logo on it, in a matchbox, for $20. Dane draws every design himself, says each one takes months, and kills plenty before they’re made. He plays the golf we play, too: in one three-year stretch he logged 33 rounds at a Portland city-run course and fewer than 10 anywhere that cost more than $75. Your money goes to a guy who loves munis, uses Portland vendors where he can, and sends the proceeds of his Roosevelt line to a local high school’s golf teams. That’s the kind of brand TGI exists to cover.
Dane grew up in Oregon’s Willamette Valley, tagging along with his uncle at small par 3 courses in Salem, and got serious about golf at the University of Oregon. He spent the first half of his career as a sportswriter covering the NBA. In the summer of 2020 he lost his favorite ball marker. Everything he found to replace it was too big, too expensive or badly drawn, so he drew his own.
He wrote a business plan that came down to one question, “How does this not already exist?”, and launched Matchstick on July 17, 2021, a sweaty 88-degree Saturday, with eight designs. He ran it at night from the front room of a small apartment. By September it was a real business, and within seven months it had more than 800 orders, shipped as far as Japan, Ireland and Sweden. Nile Johnson, a friend from the Portland golf scene, joined in 2023 to run sales. In June 2024 Matchstick opened a shop in Dane’s work-live loft in St. Johns, down the road from Wildwood, with a putting mat and a PlayStation.
On the Glove · Matchstick’s own photosMatchstick shoots its markers the way you’ll see them: in a white glove, next to a ball, and out in the world.
Founder’s voiceDane writes Matchstick’s blog himself. Quotes below are verbatim from his posts on the brand’s site, 2021 to 2024.
He launched after five months of planning because, in his words, “I decided I simply couldn’t any longer.” His first post set the rules. Markers “shouldn’t be large, chunky, ostentatious objects to brag about.” They should be small enough to stay playable, because “a playing partner is going to be irate if you don’t happen to move your mark” and it sends their putt off line. And they should be reasonably priced.
A year in, he boiled the whole plan down to a sentence: markers “should be unobtrusive to your playing partners, they should have a clean, polished finish, the art should be thoughtful and not hack, the presentation should be above the price point, and they shouldn’t be the size of a goddamn poker chip.”
He is honest about how small it started. “Matchstick was supposed to be a lark. An artistic outlet for a former creative, failed time and again by the free market for personal golf accessories.” Two years later he called it something else: “At our core, Matchstick is an art company. We make drawings into physical art that are useable every day on the golf course.”
The specMatchstick lists the same details on every marker it sells. Most are $20.
Muni Golf · from Matchstick’s blogDane writes about the courses he plays, and they’re mostly public. One essay asks what a city-owned course owes its community.
Six markersMatchstick’s most recognizable markers are drinks: two cocktails, two coffees and a late-90s sports drink bottle in eight flavors.
Six markersMatchstick made heavy metal hand signs, a three-marker set for a 1985 movie filmed on the Oregon coast, a VW camper and a skull in a chef’s hat.
The Matchbox and the Shop · Matchstick’s own photosEvery marker ships in a matchbox with a seal sticker. Since 2024 the shop is Dane’s work-live loft in St. Johns, open by posted hours or appointment.
Five markersThe marker that started it all, plus the rest of the money-and-horsepower shelf.
Four picksMatchstick makes markers for Oregon State, Teddy Roosevelt for a North Portland high school, Lady Liberty, and one of your own.
The Headcovers · Matchstick’s own photosOld jerseys and jackets, cut down and rebuilt as covers. The Oregon State line is officially licensed.
Five headcoversMatchstick’s newest work isn’t a marker. Dane now sews headcovers by hand from reclaimed jackets and jerseys, lined in Polartec fleece. Most are one of one; he also takes commissions if you bring your own garment.
Four picksA towel, ferrules, a Jones collab and a print by Dane’s mom.
Dane Delgado founded Matchstick Golf in Portland, Oregon in 2021 and is its lead designer. He was a sportswriter covering the NBA before starting the brand. Nile Johnson joined in 2023 to run business development.
In the St. Johns neighborhood of North Portland, Oregon. The shop is in Dane's work-live loft at 7440 N. Charleston Ave., open by posted hours or appointment, and local orders can be picked up there.
Most Matchstick ball markers are $20. Licensed Oregon State markers are $24 and limited editions like Lady Liberty are $30.
Yes. Every Matchstick marker is magnetic, made with oven-cured enamel and a high-polish back, USGA conforming, and packed in a matchbox.
Yes. Custom markers for trips, weddings and events cost a one-time $120 mold fee plus the markers, with free laser engraving and matchbox packaging.
Yes. Matchstick hand sews headcovers in Portland from reclaimed jackets and jerseys or premium fabric, lined with Polartec fleece. Most are one of one, and it takes custom commissions.
A Matchstick project for Roosevelt High School in North Portland. Proceeds from its Roosevelt pattern headcovers, towel and Teddy Roosevelt marker buy clubs, balls and gear for the school's boys and girls golf teams.
