For golf enthusiasts, markers are more than an important tool to use on the course. They can provide golfers a meaningful way to showcase their personality and they can be collectors’ items that remind golfers of their past experiences such as visiting prestigious destinations like Augusta National Golf Club or Pebble Beach Resorts.
But there can be a challenge with these tokens.
Misplacing golf markers is far from an uncommon occurrence. This often proves to be frustrating, especially while on the course.
For Austen Fitzpatrick, Scott Baron and Steven Howell, three close friends and golf enthusiasts, this was a a challenge they wanted to tackle head-on. They decided to bring their skills together to develop a creative solution to a common problem golfers face while enjoying the game.
What Fitzpatrick, Baron and Howell created is the Marker Locker. Taking inspiration from a common public school or clubhouse locker the friends, and business partners, designed a miniature locker that can safely store golf markers. The Marker Locker can be attached to golf bags and comes with its own keychain. According to The Marker Locker team, the idea stemmed from creating something everyone could relate to.
Lockers offer a sense of nostalgia and are comfortably familiar, explain the inventors. Alternative ideas Fitzpatrick, Baron and Howell considered included a briefcase and a toaster. After deciding that a locker would be the most appropriate, and appealing, the team worked on developing its functionality. Currently, The Marker Locker is patent pending. Fitzpatrick, Baron and Howell filed a design and a utility patent for their product.
The Marker Locker is a “new innovative product” and there is “nothing on the market like it,” says Baron.
The team believes that The Marker Locker is a “market disrupter” because it is in a category of its own. More so, it is the first solution that recognizes the collector and intrinsic value of markers. “Markers are becoming an art and have value,” Baron adds.
While creative in design, The Marker Locker is foremost a marker storage solution. The design of the miniature locker ensures that one’s markers are secured and protected. Utilizing a magnetic strip on the inside of the door and a push-in, push-out mechanism on the locker’s shelves, the design process prioritized innovation. Despite its small size, golfers can organize their markers in a convenient way due to the spaciousness of the product.
Before the Marker Locker, golfers either had to put their markers in a pouch or put them in their golf bags hoping they would not be misplaced. Neither of those options considered the value of a golfer’s markers. The Marker Locker invites golfers to make just as much of a statement with how they carry their markers on the course.
Fitzpatrick, Baron and Howell envision Marker Locker collaborations with sports franchises and golf course destinations. Golfers can use their Locker Markers as a means of personal expression or to show off certain destinations at which they have had the privilege to play. As an example, a golfer visits a famous course and purchases a licensed Locker Marker at the course’s golf shop.
Though the product is still young, its creators are planning for an exciting future. One such dream that they shared is that they would love to create limited edition Marker Lockers, to be sold annually at major golf tournaments around the country.
“This is just the beginning. We want to be in all big box retailers, golf event merchandising (including limited drops for major championships, Solheim/Ryder Cups, etc.), promoting big and small businesses and organizations (such as professional sports leagues),” Baron says.
Currently, there is only one size of the Marker Locker. The product comes in five colors: black, red, navy blue, white and gray. It retails for $39.95.
While there is only one product on the market as of now, the makers of the Marker Locker say they plan to keep developing their brand and are open to expanding their product line in the future.
To learn more about the Marker Locker, or to purchase one, visit themarkerlocker.com. ♦
