Good Good Golf has spent years building one of the most recognizable brands in the rapidly expanding world of golf content.
Now, a since-deleted advertisement involving co-founder Garrett Clark has put the company under intense scrutiny and prompted criticism from some of the biggest names in the sport.
The ad, created to promote Good Goodâs collaboration with Callaway Golf on a Quantum driver, showed Clark confronting fellow Good Good golfer Alexis Miestowski after she reached toward the club in a golf bag.
Clark was depicted knocking Miestowski to the ground before standing over her and warning her not to touch his new driver. The scene quickly generated backlash from viewers who argued that the attempt at dark humor crossed a line by appearing to make light of violence against women.
“I think what we saw was concerning, is clearly not aligned with PGA Tour values,” Brian Rolapp, PGA Tour CEO, said. “We take it very seriously. I think their initial response was disappointing.
“It was a bit defensive and late.”
Good Goodâs PGA Tour Partnership Faces Growing Scrutiny Rolapp acknowledged that Good Good’s handling of the controversy had improved since its initial response, but made it clear the PGA Tour remained unhappy with the situation.“But I think the responses are getting better. I think weâve seen some things this morning; we had some conversations with them,” Rolapp said. “But no, we were disappointed with what we saw.”
The brand is attached to the Good Good Championship scheduled for Austin, Texas, Nov. 9-15, meaning the controversy has moved beyond a social-media firestorm and into a potentially significant business issue. Many are saying the Tour should cut ties with Good Good all together.
“I think I mentioned before, itâs a bit of a fluid situation,” Rolapp said. “We were disappointed at first. It sounds like in the last 24 hours theyâve made some progress. Weâll continue to monitor the situation and see how it develops.”
The fallout has extended elsewhere. The premiere of the Golf Channel reality competition Big Break X Good Good was postponed amid the controversy.
According to Golf.com, it’s a “reboot of the popular Big Break reality show,” which first aired in 2003.
Retailers Pull Good Good MerchandiseThe consequences for Good Good Golf have also reached the retail side. Golf Galaxy and Dickâs Sporting Goods pulled Good Good merchandise from their physical stores and online listings Tuesday as the backlash surrounding the controversial advertisement continued to grow.
According to Front Office Sports, searches for Good Good products on Dickâs Sporting Goodsâ website returned no matching items, while the brandâs merchandise was also no longer listed through Golf Galaxy online.
The retailers have not publicly clarified whether the removal is temporary or signals a broader change to their relationship with Good Good.
Good Good And Callaway ApologizeGood Good’s apology did little to immediately quiet the criticism. One obvious question remained: If the advertisement didn’t represent the company’s values, how did it make its way through the planning, filming, editing and approval process before being published?
Callaway also acknowledged responsibility rather than placing the entire controversy on its partner. CEO Chip Brewer confirmed that although Good Good produced the advertisement, Callaway approved it before publication.
“As soon as we recognized the seriousness of the issue, it was escalated appropriately, and the video was immediately removed. Preliminary statements were issued by both Good Good and Callaway, and now this statement has followed,” Brewer said.
“We are also conducting both internal and external investigations and have already made changes to our approval processes aimed at ensuring this will never happen again.”
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