A controversial ad from Good Good Golf has caused a an online firestorm that has quickly spread to the offices of key retailers in the U.S., leading Callaway Golf on Thursday to end its partnership with the golf media and apparel brand while the controversy compelled several retail chains, including PGA Tour Superstore, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Golf Galaxy, Target and more, to pull Good Good Golf merchandise from their shelves and racks.
Good Good Golf, based in Frisco, Texas, was launched as a YouTube channel in 2020 and has become one of the largest content creators in golf with 2.1 million YouTube subscribers. Soon after launching, Good Good began selling golf lifestyle apparel and caps and had been an official business partner of Callaway since January 2023, collaborating on co-branded equipment, content, and marketing campaigns.
In March 2025, Good Good raised $45 million in a funding round.
The online ad, released August 21 and taken down the following day, promoted the new co-branded Quantum Max Good Good Driver.
The 15-second spot shows Alexis Miestowski, a Good Good content creator and a former Division I golfer, reaching for a Good Good-branded Callaway driver in a bag. Good Good co-founder Garrett Clark charges at her from the background and pushes into her back with his forearm. She falls to the ground, he stands over her, and as she looks up at him, he says menacingly, “Do not touch my new driver.”
The ad went viral and was widely criticized on social media for trivializing violence against women. Comments on X called it “very scary” and “a generationally stupid ad.”
On Saturday, August 22, the ad was taken down from Good Good’s and Callaway’s social channels and Good Good posted an apology on social media. The statement read, “We posted a video to our channels that ultimately depicted actions that are not aligned with our values as a brand. We have since taken that content down, and sincerely apologize. Good Good has always stood for making the game of golf more inclusive to all, and we will continue to ensure that is our mission going forward.”
Callaway also issued a statement late Saturday: “We are disappointed by the content that was posted, and are appreciative of Good Good for addressing this. We look forward to working together to ensure a more inclusive space in golf.”
The PGA Tour, which has a partnership with Good Good, further released a statement on Saturday, “The PGA Tour believes in golf’s ability to bring people together and create a welcoming environment for all. We do not condone violence in any form, and the since-deleted video does not reflect our values or commitment to inclusivity and respect.”
Follow-up Responses
The ad content nonetheless remained in circulation on social media and media coverage escalated.
By Monday, Callaway had pulled the driver listing from its website.
On Tuesday , Callaway’s CEO Chip Brewer issued a follow-up statement on social media admitting his company approved the ad and apologized for that mistake. He said Callaway is adding procedures to ensure similar incidents don’t happen in the future.
Brewer’s statement read, “Last week, Good Good Golf and Callaway posted a video to promote a co-branded driver. While the video was produced by Good Good, it was approved by Callaway prior to posting. That approval should never have happened. Mistakes were made, and we are taking the matter seriously.”
“As we deal with the consequences of our mistake and complete our investigations, I want to make it clear that we sincerely apologize for the video. The content was inappropriate and does not reflect our values. To be clear: we are unequivocally against discrimination, domestic violence or threatening behavior of any kind … I assure you we will learn from this and do better.”
He said Callaway is undertaking investigations and had already made changes to the approval processes to ensure similar incidents wouldn’t occur.
“We believe we have been a positive force for diversity and inclusion in the game of golf. This video was completely inconsistent with that. I assure you that we will learn from this and do better,” he concluded.
Following criticism on social media calling out the shortcomings in Brewer’s statement, Callaway on Thursday afternoon issued a more more-extensive apology and said it was severing ties with Good Good. The statement read in part, “Unequivocally, violence against women is unacceptable and should never be trivialized, normalized or used as entertainment.”
The company again vowed to step-up procedures to “help ensure this does not happen again” and pledged $1 million to “to support organizations working to prevent violence against women.”
Callaway concluded in Thursday’s statement, “”These actions do not undo the harm caused or excuse our role in it. We sincerely apologize to everyone who was hurt, disappointment or offended by this incident.
“One of Callaway Golf’s core values is to be a positive influence, both in the game of golf and in our communities. We are further strengthening our commitment to these initiatives, and this will be an ongoing focus in our company. We are committed to learning from this incident and helping ensure the golf is a place where everyone feels respected, valued, and welcome.”
In a second missive from Good Good, shared Tuesday, Good Good co-founder and CEO Matt Kendrick explained on LinkedIn that the ad was initially intended to be a “parody” of a scene from this year’s hit indie horror movie Obsession, where Clark’s character becomes “obsessed” with the driver. However, he acknowledged that the “execution missed the mark. I understand why people found it insensitive, and I want to be clear that neither I nor anyone at Good Good condones violence of any kind. Regardless of what we intended, we are responsible for what we put into the world and how it is received. We got this one wrong.”
Kendrick vowed that Good Good would “be better” and likewise change their approval process for output from the company’s marketing teams.
Kendrick on Tuesday told the Wall Street Journal that Good Good plans to donate proceeds of the campaign for the driver to an organization that supports women.
He also noted that while the brand in the past has been credited for using sophomoric humor to bring younger generations to the sport of golf, he told the WSJ that the brand was facing more risks as it’s becomes more mainstream. He said, “As we’ve gotten bigger and there’s more eyeballs on what we do, we need to think about every piece of the business from our communications and understanding we have more influence now, we have more responsibility when we post.”
Clark also late Tuesday evening posted a eight-minute video on X, further explaining his role in what he called “the worst ad in the world.”
At a news conference Tuesday at the Tour Championship being held in Atlanta, PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp expressed disappointment at Good Good’s initial response. Asked by whether Good Good took enough accountability, Rolapp said: “I think, initially, no. I think what we saw was concerning (and) is clearly not aligned with PGA Tour values. We take it very seriously. I think their initial response was disappointing. It was a bit defensive and late.”
He added, “But I think the responses are getting better. I think we’ve seen some things this morning — we’ve had some conversations with them — so we’ll continue to monitor and work with them going forward. But, no, we were disappointed with what we saw.”
Retailers Withdraw Good Good Product
On Wednesday, reports arrived that Golf Galaxy and its parent company, Dick’s Sporting Goods, as well as PGA Superstores and Target had pulled Good Good products from in-store shelves and online listing. Good Good product also is no longer available on the websites of Worldwide Golf Shops, the parent of Roger Dunn Golf Shops, Edwin Watts Golf and The Golf Mart, ATLANTA — The PGA Tour made it clear Tuesday that it’s disappointed in Good Good Golf’s initial response to the public backlash over a controversial advertisement recently shared on the digital media and apparel brand’s social media channels.
On the media side, Golf Channel on Tuesday said it was postponing its scheduled premiere of the reality show “Big Break x Good Good” because one of its sponsors asked out. Multiple reports said Golf Galaxy was that sponsor.
Good Good also reportedly risks losing its role as title sponsor of an inaugural PGA Tour event this fall, the Good Good Championship, scheduled for November 12 to 15 at Omni Barton Creek in Austin. At the Tour Championship in Atlanta, PGA Tour’s Rolapp was noncommittal about whether this controversy would affect that tournament.
“It’s a bit of a fluid situation,” Rolapp said. “We were disappointed at first. It sounds like in the last 24 hours they’ve made some progress. We’ll continue to monitor the situation and see how it develops.”
Image courtes Good Good Golf
