Good Good Golf chief executive Matt Kendrick has fired the staff members responsible for a controversial Callaway commercial that plunged his digital media empire into crisis. Kendrick confirmed the dismissals following widespread backlash over an advertisement showing co-founder Garrett Clark shoving female golfer Alexis Miestowski to the ground.
The announcement comes after equipment giant Callaway Golf severed its partnership with Good Good, prompting a cascade of lost deals across professional golf. The Golf Channel cancelled an upcoming reality television series, while Good Good withdrew as the title sponsor of a scheduled PGA Tour tournament in Texas.
Good Good Golf is a Texas-based media and apparel business that originated as a YouTube channel featuring group golf challenges and comedic content, growing into a major brand with millions of online followers. Callaway Golf, headquartered in Carlsbad, California, is one of the world's largest manufacturers of golf equipment and had previously partnered with Good Good to produce co-branded equipment line products.
Late-night social media response
In the early hours of Friday morning, Kendrick dusted off an old social media account to launch a late-night attack on Callaway on X, formerly Twitter, even suggesting Good Good could pursue legal action over the split.
"Interesting that @CallawayGolf asks us to make an ad then approves it then asks us to take the fall then drops us in a coordinated media blitz and covers it up by giving a million dollars away thinking everyone will be ok with it," Kendrick posted at 3:38 a.m. ET on Friday.
When a social media user suggested that Good Good should "sue Callaway for every single penny they're owed plus damages," Kendrick responded that he was "Not opposed." He also told another user he was "down to boycott @CallawayGolf" and agreed with a comment stating that the equipment company had set up his brand.
Despite criticizing Callaway, Kendrick acknowledged the quality of the commercial in his online responses. The CEO admitted that Good Good had "made a terrible ad," adding: "We apologize for that."
Executive explanation and internal firings
Kendrick deleted several of his social media posts by Friday morning before shedding new light on the company's internal response in an interview with Front Office Sports. During the interview, Kendrick revealed that he did not see the commercial prior to its public release but confirmed that Good Good had "removed people responsible for the ad."
"Our marketing team saw it. Callaway said they approved it, and that went through their marketing team, as well. So, both sides saw it," Kendrick told Front Office Sports. "I didn’t see it initially when it went up, either. But my team informed me that they had pulled it down and then I saw it. And after I saw it, I was like: 'This isn’t acceptable.'"
Kendrick also rowed back on his earlier online suggestions of legal action against Callaway, clarifying that the company was not pursuing a lawsuit. "We’re not thinking about that. It was just off the cuff responding to a comment," Kendrick said.
Reversing his sharp tone on social media, Kendrick lauded Callaway, the PGA Tour, and the Golf Channel. Speaking on Callaway's decision to sever ties, he stated: "I understand everyone’s position and I get it. We loved being with Callaway for a long time. They were nothing but great to us the entire time we were together. I just hate that this is how it ended." He added that he had "nothing but good things to say" about the PGA Tour and "appreciated everything" the Golf Channel had done for the group.
Details of the controversial commercial
The controversial 60-second video was designed to promote the Good Good-branded Callaway Quantum driver as a spoof of the popular horror film Obsession. However, the opening sequence generated immediate outrage by depicting physical aggression toward a female player.
In the advertisement, Clark rushes over and body-checks team member Alexis Miestowski as she reaches for the golf club, knocking her flat onto her back on the ground. Clark then stands over Miestowski and angrily shouts: "Do not touch my new driver." The remainder of the commercial shows other content team members becoming possessed by the club.
Following the initial public outcry, both Good Good and Callaway released groveling apologies and deleted the clip from all social media platforms. Clark posted his own apology video addressing the backlash, in which he took responsibility and called the commercial the "worst ad known to man."
Speaking earlier in the week to the Wall Street Journal, Kendrick took personal responsibility for the oversight. "We fully own that we did make a mistake … As the CEO of the company, the buck stops with me and we should have had better processes in place," Kendrick told the newspaper. "Obviously the execution missed the mark and didn’t come across the way that we wanted to, and in no way were we trying to make light of or support violence. But it came across that way, and that’s our fault."
Broadcaster cancellation and sponsor withdrawal
The corporate fallout escalated rapidly on Thursday when Callaway announced it was cutting ties with Good Good "effective immediately." In a lengthy statement, Callaway pledged "$1million to support organizations working to prevent violence against women, provide resources to survivors, and advance education and awareness efforts."
The Golf Channel responded by officially cancelling its upcoming reality television show, Good Good x Big Break. The network had initially announced a one-week delay to the broadcast after an unnamed sponsor, believed to be Golf Magic, requested the removal of its branding from the program. However, within 24 hours of that initial delay, the Golf Channel opted to scrap the project entirely.
Big Break originally aired for 23 seasons between 2003 and 2015 as a reality competition where 12 aspiring golfers competed in skills challenges, with players eliminated weekly until a single winner remained. The 2026 reboot was set to feature professional golfer and model Blair O'Neal alongside television host Wells Adam as co-hosts.
Impact on PGA Tour involvement
Under the original terms of the television series, the winner of the rebooted Big Break competition was scheduled to receive a tournament exemption into a PGA Tour event in November. That tournament was slated to be the Good Good Championship, held in Austin, Texas, under a title sponsorship agreement with the media group.
Hours after Callaway severed ties, Good Good decided to "step away" from sponsoring the PGA Tour event. The PGA Tour released an official statement confirming the decision: "The PGA TOUR has been informed of Good Good Golf's decision to step away as sponsor of the event in Austin, Texas, this fall."
The tournament has since been renamed the Austin Championship on the PGA Tour's official website, with all references to Good Good removed while the tour evaluates its ongoing relationship with the digital content creator group.
