Good Good Golf is facing a major leadership shakeup after a controversial advertisement triggered backlash, ended business relationships, and put the golf media company under intense scrutiny.
CEO Matt Kendrick and President Joe Flannery have now left the company, Good Good head of finance and operations Alex Puchala announced.
The departures follow the release of an advertisement promoting a co-branded Good Good and Callaway driver. In the video, a male golfer shoves a female player to the ground after she reaches for the club, then tells her not to touch it.
The commercial was posted online on August 20 and deleted the same day, but removing it did little to contain the fallout. Copies continued circulating across social media, where the scene drew condemnation and calls for consumers to boycott Callaway products.
Callaway Launches Investigation Into Controversial Golf Ad
Callaway CEO Chip Brewer addressed the controversy Tuesday, saying the company had begun investigating how an advertisement produced by Good Good Golf received approval.
“Last week Good Good Golf and Callaway posted a video to promote a co-branded driver,” Brewer said.
“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.”
The executive departures are not the only personnel changes at Good Good. Vice President of Brand and Marketing Jeffrey Lefkovits was fired earlier in the week. Nahid Giga, an investor and Good Good board member, has been named interim CEO.
Good Good had attempted to explain that the advertisement was intended as a parody of the horror movie “Obsession.” That explanation failed to stop the criticism.
The consequences quickly moved beyond angry comments online.
PGA Tour, Retailers and Golf Channel Cut Ties
PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp publicly criticized what he saw.
“We were disappointed with what we saw,” Rolapp said last week. “The PGA Tour believes in golf’s ability to bring people together and create a welcoming environment for all.”
Good Good subsequently withdrew as title sponsor of a new PGA Tour event scheduled for Austin, Texas, later this year. The PGA Tour has said the tournament itself will go forward.
Callaway also terminated its relationship with Good Good. Golf Galaxy and parent company Dick’s Sporting Goods pulled Good Good merchandise from store shelves. At the same time, Golf Channel canceled a new season of its “Big Break” reality series, which it was producing in partnership with the company.
That is a significant reversal for a brand that grew from a YouTube channel launched in 2020 into one of golf’s largest digital content operations. Good Good features eight men and four women competing in golf matches and challenges and has expanded into television programming, apparel and merchandise.
Good Good Founder Calls It the ‘Worst Ad Known to Man’
Garrett Clark, a Good Good founder who plays the golfer shoving the woman in the advertisement, later released an eight-minute response video.
Clark described the commercial as “the worst ad known to man” and said it was “not what we stand for.”
Those apologies, however, arrived as the commercial was already producing tangible business consequences.
Within roughly two weeks of its August 20 release, Good Good had lost its relationship with Callaway, seen major retailers remove its merchandise, lost a television partnership, withdrawn from a PGA Tour sponsorship, and undergone changes at the highest levels of its management.
What began as a provocative parody has instead left Good Good trying to rebuild its leadership while dealing with the commercial consequences of an advertisement that remained online for only a matter of hours.
