Let’s have this discussion. Callaway, the OEM that has worked with Good Good Golf for three years, handed the YouTube brand permission that they probably shouldn’t have, as most of us have realized after they pushed their most controversial ad. The problematic part of the ad, which ran for nearly 15 seconds, will not get scraped off the internet. But really, there are two ways to read this. 

First… the ad is dumb. It doesn’t make sense.

It’s meaningless, and it panders to no one but a bunch of “golf-bros” who now believe the backlash against Good Good Golf is extreme. Cruel, even. Callaway dropped them. Then, the YouTube brand stepped down as PGA Tour’s tournament title sponsor, and Golf Channel delayed the return of “Big Break x Good Good” after a sponsor pulled out. In recent memory, it’s perhaps the messiest cleanup we have seen.

But is it not deserved? As stated above, there are two ways to read into this.

The first way of looking at the controversy

In the ad, everyone is obsessed with the new Callaway driver, and co-founder Garret Clark is one of them. So, when he notices a woman (Alexis Miestowski) walking towards his golf bag to grab the club, he sprints toward her and shoves her to the ground. Never mind the fact that he looms over Miestowski in an image that has become familiar around the world, he menacingly tells her, “Do not touch my new driver.” Miestowski smiled in return.

Don’t get it? The creators reportedly wanted to spoof the horror movie Obsession. The idea was to be careful what you wish for. The Good Good team probably wished for a good driver (we assume). What they got was bad PR over something that doesn’t really, in popular lingo, fly.

It’s not funny, it doesn’t leave an impact, it’s not remotely inspiring, and it certainly doesn’t make you want to buy the special-edition driver. In fact, the act of shoving someone to the ground, threatening them, for a golf club of all things seems petty, immature, childish even. 

Fine, it passed the Good Good Golf team. After all, they were the ones directly involved with it, but how did it pass the billion-dollar Callaway’s marketing team? 

In his statement, Callaway Golf CEO Chip Brewer said, “The approval should never have happened. Mistakes were made, and we are taking the matter very seriously. I want to make it clear that we sincerely apologize for the video.“

According to Golf Digest, in its partnership with Callaway, the YouTube brand kept creative control while the OEM had access to its partner’s social media presence. Clearly, they shouldn’t have.

If they wanted to show how irresistible the driver is, they could have shot a video where everyone in Good Good Golf looked so crazy obsessed with the driver that they fought over each other to reach the driver first. Like Coca-Cola’s Super Bowl ad, where outlaws, cowboys, and showgirls race through the desert for a bottle of Coke.

That might not have been funny, but it certainly would’ve gotten the point across without insulting someone because of their gender. Or it could have shown that golf brands are still capable of making tone deaf content. So, what do we really think about it? First of all, what message are we sending to the people, especially the kids and young adults? Girls and women, specifically, whose golf participation has risen in recent times.

Now, there are two points to this, too. 

How to read a little further ahead 

In an exclusive on the Fore Play podcast, Hunter Mahan revealed the reason behind golf’s growing popularity is no longer Tiger Woods or, say, Jack Nicklaus, but YouTube. That’s the platform that insists you can play golf, no matter what age, race, or demographic you belong to. 

“They’ll sit and watch that [Good Good Golf and Grant Horvat]. I’m like ‘You’d rather watch, not average golfers, but OK golfers play a round of golf versus highlights of Tiger Woods?’ I’m like ‘why?’ and they’re like ‘I don’t know, I just watch them,’” Mahan stated. 

That’s exactly why YouTube golfers, including Good Good Golf members and Grant Horvat, are so influential. They prove that you don’t have to be good at something to enjoy it. They can generate millions of views within a few hours and reach places that neither the PGA Tour nor LIV Golf are capable of. That means they are responsible and should be held accountable if their ad suggests it’s okay to push women around just because they touched their club.

Though Good Good Golf isn’t behind every bad behavior on the planet, the controversy is symptomatic of a larger pattern in golf culture. Ideas like these, however small they may seem at the moment, give entitlement. Kids start thinking it’s cool to hit people to chase likes, to follow in the footsteps of the people who have already gained a massive following.

This mirrors Harold Varner III’s demand for a sixsome when his group arrived late.

It bears repeating: Good Good isn’t the sole cause of this behavior, but it is symptomatic of a larger pattern.

The second point is that women’s participation has increased in recent years. According to the National Golf Foundation, since 2020, women’s participation in golf has increased by 45%, compared with 12% for men. That’s a net gain of approximately 2.5M golfers, bringing the number to an all-time high of 8.1M players.

To Good Good’s credit, it tried to include women by launching Good Good Girls. But by producing ads such as this, Good Good is single-handedly alienating half of its fanbase. And it will take a decent amount of time for both Callaway and Good Good to restore their reputation in the sport that has a long history of excluding women.

That’s what makes this entire situation so grave. 

The second (and more serious) way of looking at the controversy

In the simplest terms, and as the popular conversation goes, the ad was sexist and trivialized domestic violence. We do not live in an age where you can get away with casual misogyny. That’s why Callaway promised $1M in donations to charities helping domestic violence victims. That’s also why the PGA Tour condemned Good Good.

When asked about the initial apology video released by Good Good, this is how Brian Rolapp responded: “I think what we saw was concerning. It’s 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, but I think their responses are getting better…” 

They’re scrambling to restore the damage caused in a nearly 15-second video. And it’s required. You do not just shove a woman into the ground and hope to get away with it. Additionally, throughout its history, golf has struggled to be all-inclusive. Part of that problem is the exclusion of women, evident in the existence of male-only clubs and the lack of media coverage for women’s tournaments.

Even to this day, in fact, the LPGA is struggling to gain an audience for its most high-profile tournaments, despite the presence of generational talents like Nelly Korda and Jeeno Thitikul. So, no wonder the recent ad has disturbed more than one person. 

What’s needed now? Well, reflection on the part of all parties, men and women, involved with the project. More importantly, what they need is to take accountability for the incident, instead of blaming their marketing team, Good Good.