Good Good Golf Callaway Deleted Ad Controversy Explained

Good Good Golf’s controversial Callaway advertisement escalated into a major corporate crisis in August 2026 after a video showing co-founder Garrett Clark shoving female golfer and Good Good contributor Alexis Miestowski to the ground triggered widespread criticism for appearing to trivialize violence against women. Good Good and Callaway quickly deleted the advertisement and apologized, but the fallout continued. Callaway ultimately terminated its three-year partnership with Good Good, pledged $1 million to organizations addressing violence against women, and said its review found serious failures in the approval process. Good Good then withdrew as title sponsor of its upcoming PGA Tour event in Austin, while Dick’s Sporting Goods, Golf Galaxy and some PGA Tour Superstore locations removed Good Good products. Golf Channel subsequently canceled the already-filmed 2026 season of Big Break x Good Good.

The Controversial Advertisement

Good Good’s Ad Showed Garrett Clark Shoving Alexis Miestowski To The Ground. The promotional video showed Miestowski reaching toward a golf bag containing a co-branded Good Good Callaway Quantum driver. Clark ran toward her and shoved her to the ground before standing over her. [AP] [People]

Clark Warned Miestowski Not To Touch The Driver. After knocking her down, Clark told her, “Do not touch my new driver.” The advertisement ended with a warning message promoting the club. [People]

The Video Was Intended As A Horror-Movie Parody. Good Good CEO Matt Kendrick later said the advertisement was conceived as a spoof of the film Obsession. He acknowledged that whatever the intended joke, the finished video failed badly and viewers reasonably interpreted it as making light of violence against women. [Reuters] [Golf Digest]

Good Good Deletes The Video

Good Good Removed The Advertisement The Same Day It Was Posted. The video was published on August 21 and quickly disappeared from the companies’ official social-media accounts after criticism began spreading. Copies continued circulating online. [AP]

Good Good Issued An Initial Apology. The company said the video depicted actions that were not aligned with its values and apologized for publishing it. Good Good said its mission remained making golf more inclusive. [Reuters]

Backlash Over Violence Against Women

Critics Said The Ad Turned Violence Against A Woman Into A Joke. The primary criticism was not simply that Clark pushed another golfer during a comedy sketch, but that the entire gag depended on a man using physical force against a woman for touching his golf equipment. [People] [Golf Digest]

The Advertisement Drew Additional Scrutiny Because Of Good Good’s Young Audience. Good Good has built one of golf’s largest online audiences, with more than two million YouTube subscribers and particular popularity among younger players. Critics argued that the company therefore had a heightened responsibility over the messages contained in its content. [Business Insider]

Women In Golf Said The Message Contradicted Efforts To Make The Sport More Inclusive. The controversy arrived as golf organizations and equipment companies were trying to increase female participation, making imagery of a woman being physically prevented from touching golf equipment particularly damaging. [People]

Callaway Admits It Approved The Advertisement

Callaway Initially Appeared To Distance Itself From Good Good. The equipment company expressed disappointment after the video was removed and emphasized its commitment to making golf inclusive.

Callaway Later Acknowledged That It Had Approved The Video Before Publication. CEO Chip Brewer said Good Good created the advertisement but Callaway reviewed and approved it before it went live. Brewer said the approval “should never have happened.” [Golf Digest] [GOLF]

The Admission Changed The Nature Of The Controversy. Callaway was no longer merely a corporate partner reacting to inappropriate content created independently by an influencer company. Its own content-review process had allowed the advertisement to be released.

Callaway Opens A Review

Callaway Launched Internal And External Reviews Of The Advertisement. Brewer said the company would investigate how the content was approved and identify failures in its review process. [Golf Digest]

Callaway Began Changing Its Procedures Before The Review Was Finished. The company said it had already taken steps to strengthen the process used to review collaborative marketing content.

The Review Ultimately Led To A Much More Serious Consequence Than The Initial Apology.

Callaway Ends Its Partnership With Good Good

Callaway Terminated Its Relationship With Good Good On August 27. Less than a week after the advertisement appeared, Callaway announced that its relationship with Good Good was ending effective immediately. [AP] [Golf Digest] [GOLF]

The Decision Ended A Partnership That Began In 2023. Callaway and Good Good had collaborated on golf equipment, branded merchandise, marketing campaigns and content aimed particularly at younger golfers.

Callaway Said It Had Listened To People Personally Affected By Violence Against Women. In announcing the break, the company said stories shared by people with firsthand experience reinforced the seriousness of the issue. [People] [GOLF]

Callaway Pledges $1 Million

Callaway Committed $1 Million To Organizations Addressing Violence Against Women. The money is intended to support organizations working to prevent violence, help survivors and provide education and awareness. [Golf Digest] [People]

The Donation Was Announced Alongside The End Of The Good Good Partnership. That made it part of Callaway’s effort to demonstrate that the company’s response had moved beyond simply deleting the video and issuing an apology.

Garrett Clark Issues A Personal Apology

Clark Released A Lengthy Video Apology As The Fallout Intensified. He said he personally wanted to apologize for his role in the advertisement and also apologized on behalf of Good Good and its marketing team. [Guardian]

Clark Said He Does Not Support Domestic Violence Or Abuse. He said the advertisement did not reflect what Good Good stands for and acknowledged that it had been in poor taste. [Guardian]

Clark Said He Cringed When He Saw The Finished Video. He also released behind-the-scenes footage that he said showed the physical interaction had been staged rather than an actual assault. That explanation did not resolve the central criticism, which concerned what the advertisement depicted rather than whether Miestowski had actually been injured. [Guardian]

Clark Asked Viewers To Forgive Good Good And Move Forward. He said growing women’s golf remained one of the company’s major goals. [Guardian]

Clark Condemns Attacks On Alexis Miestowski

Miestowski Became A Target Of Online Abuse After The Controversy. Clark said people had begun directing hostile messages toward her even though she was the woman depicted being shoved in the advertisement.

Clark Told People To Stop Attacking Her. He emphasized that Good Good had made the mistake and that Miestowski should not be blamed or harassed because of the company’s decisions. [Guardian]

CEO Matt Kendrick Accepts Responsibility

Kendrick Said The Responsibility Ultimately Rested With Him. The Good Good CEO said the company fully owned the mistake and acknowledged that stronger systems should have prevented the video from reaching the public. [Reuters]

Kendrick Said Good Good Had Outgrown Its Old Approach To Content Review. He argued that the company’s rapid growth required more formal safeguards than when Good Good was a smaller group of creators.

Good Good Had Become A Major Golf Business Before The Scandal. The company had raised $45 million in investment funding in 2025 and expanded its products into thousands of retail locations. [Business Insider] [Front Office Sports]

Dick’s Sporting Goods Pulls Good Good Products

Dick’s Sporting Goods Removed Good Good Merchandise From Its Stores And Website. The retailer pulled the products after the controversy intensified. [ESPN] [Front Office Sports]

Good Good Products Disappeared From The Dick’s Website. Searches for the brand returned no products after the retailer acted. [Front Office Sports]

Stores Were Also Told To Remove Merchandise From Sales Floors. Front Office Sports contacted multiple Dick’s locations and found that Good Good products had been pulled from active sale even where inventory remained physically inside stores. [Front Office Sports]

Golf Galaxy Pulls Good Good Merchandise

Golf Galaxy Also Removed The Brand. The golf specialty retailer, which is owned by Dick’s Sporting Goods, stopped listing Good Good products online and removed merchandise from store floors. [ESPN] [Front Office Sports]

The Retail Loss Was Particularly Significant For Good Good. Before the scandal, company executives said Good Good had expanded from approximately 800 to 4,000 retail doors in a year and that many of the best-selling hats at Dick’s and Golf Galaxy were Good Good products. [Front Office Sports]

PGA Tour Superstore Locations Also Pull Products

Several PGA Tour Superstore Locations Removed Good Good Merchandise. Front Office Sports reported that multiple stores said they had pulled the products after the controversy. [Front Office Sports]

PGA Tour Superstore Said The Video Did Not Reflect Its Values. A company spokesperson said the advertisement was inconsistent with its commitment to making golf welcoming for everyone. [Front Office Sports]

Good Good Loses Its PGA Tour Title Sponsorship

Good Good Withdrew As Title Sponsor Of The PGA Tour’s Austin Tournament. The company announced on August 27 that it was stepping away from the event scheduled for November 12-15. [AP] [Golf Channel]

The PGA Tour Said It Agreed With Good Good’s Decision. The Tour said Good Good should use the period to focus on its organization and “the work ahead.” [Golf Channel]

The Tournament Will No Longer Be Called The Good Good Championship. It has been renamed the Austin Championship. [AP]

The Sponsorship Was A Major Financial Deal. Front Office Sports reported that Good Good had been set to pay the PGA Tour at least $6 million annually as part of a multiyear agreement. [Front Office Sports]

PGA Tour CEO Criticizes Good Good’s Initial Response

PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp Said The Original Advertisement Was Clearly Inconsistent With Tour Values. He called the situation concerning and said the organization takes violence and inclusivity seriously. [Guardian]

Rolapp Also Criticized Good Good’s Initial Apology. When asked whether the company had responded adequately, he said its first response had been disappointing, defensive and late. [Guardian]

The Tour Initially Described Good Good’s Sponsorship As A “Fluid Situation.” Hours later, Good Good stepped away from the tournament entirely. [Guardian]

Big Break x Good Good Is Canceled

Golf Channel Initially Postponed The Premiere Of Big Break x Good Good. The network delayed the reality competition after one of its sponsors requested that its branding be removed from the program. [GOLF]

The Entire 2026 Season Was Later Canceled. Golf Channel confirmed that the already-filmed season would not air. [Hollywood Reporter] [GolfMagic]

The Loss Of The Good Good Championship Made The Show’s Grand Prize Impossible To Deliver As Planned. The winner was supposed to receive an exemption into the PGA Tour event sponsored by Good Good. Once Good Good withdrew from the tournament, that prize no longer existed in its original form. [Hollywood Reporter]

Golf Channel Still Plans To Bring Big Break Back In 2027. The cancellation applies to the Good Good-associated 2026 season rather than permanently ending the long-running reality franchise. [GolfMagic]

The Fallout Hits Big Break Contestants

Twelve Golfers Had Already Competed In The Canceled Season. The program had been fully filmed before the advertising controversy erupted. [Hollywood Reporter]

The Cancellation Meant Competitors Lost Their Planned Television Exposure. Contestants had participated expecting the season to air nationally and provide career opportunities in addition to the PGA Tour exemption.

The Scandal Therefore Affected People Who Had No Role In Creating The Advertisement. That expanded the consequences beyond Good Good executives, Callaway and the people who appeared in the controversial video.

The Callaway Driver Collaboration Ends

Callaway Had Already Removed The Co-Branded Quantum Driver From Its Website Before Ending The Partnership. The product listing disappeared as scrutiny of the advertisement intensified.

The Partnership Termination Made The Future Of Co-Branded Good Good Callaway Equipment Clearer. Callaway’s August 27 announcement said the relationship was ending immediately rather than merely pausing a single advertising campaign. [GOLF]

Costco Rumors Circulate

Online Claims Suggested Costco Had Also Pulled Callaway Products Because Of The Controversy. The rumor spread as other retailers were taking genuine action against Good Good.

There Was No Confirmed Evidence That Costco’s Product decisions were caused by the advertisement. Snopes reported that Costco had not provided evidence supporting claims that it removed Callaway merchandise specifically because of the Good Good controversy. [Snopes]

The Confirmed Retail Actions Involve Dick’s Sporting Goods, Golf Galaxy And Multiple PGA Tour Superstore Locations. Those should be distinguished from unsupported claims involving Costco. [Front Office Sports]