Want more from Front Office Sports
in your search results?
On Aug. 21, Good Good Golf posted a promotional video for its new driver—created in partnership with Callaway—that depicted Good Good co-founder Garrett Clark shoving fellow Good Good creator, Alexis Miestowski, to the ground. It sparked online outrage almost immediately, with many users, including several high-profile golf media personalities, describing the spot as confusing, scary, and endorsing violence against women.
By Aug. 27, the YouTube-native golf brand had lost its longstanding partnership with Callaway; had several major retailers pull its merchandise from shelves; and had forfeited its title sponsorships of Golf Channel’s revamped Big Break show and a November PGA Tour event. On Sept. 2, CEO Matt Kendrick stepped down. (Nahid Giga, an early Good Good investor and current board member, is serving as interim CEO.)
In the intervening weeks, the company has been trying to get back to business. Early signals suggest it has some support.
Content Continuity
Good Good resumed posting to its flagship YouTube account on Aug. 29, and has posted 9 times since—including 7 episodes of its new series, “Golfing 50 States in 50 Days.” The post-fallout videos have been averaging just under a million views, roughly in line with Good Good’s historical performance. These don’t appear to be hate-watches, either: Per digital analytics company Social Blade, Good Good has gained approximately 20,000 YouTube subscribers in the last 30 days. Sentiment is also largely positive in the brand’s comment sections, where many users are using the space to lament cancel culture.
“They could never make me hate you good good,” reads one comment under the Aug. 29 video; it has close to 7,000 likes. “Callaway and PGA tour can eat shit,” says another comment with more than 4,000 likes.
On other recent YouTube videos, replies suggest some consumers have been galvanized by the controversy. “I use to watch every now and then but I’m watching every video to support!” wrote one user in response to a Sept. 4 post. Said another: “Haven’t watched GG content in a year but coming back to support.”
The “Golfing 50 States in 50 Days” series, meanwhile, is garnering lots of independent praise, particularly for its high production value amid daily deadlines.
‘Biggest Traffic Day’
Despite losing distribution deals with Dick’s Sporting Goods, Golf Galaxy, Target, and PGA Tour Superstore, Good Good’s merchandise business remains healthy across other retail channels, a company spokesperson says.
Good Good’s online store “had its biggest traffic days ever” during the last week of August, with two-thirds of converted visitors making their first-ever purchase from the brand, the spokesperson tells Front Office Sports. Website sales continue to generate “strong, sustained revenue,” particularly for Good Good’s already popular hats—as do sales from the hundreds of golf course pro shops where Good Good has shelf space nationwide, which, by and large, did not remove products like big-box retailers did.
The company, launched in 2020, also told FOS last month it “sees an opportunity to re-engage former retail partners in the future,” though Dick’s, Golf Galaxy, Target, and PGA Tour Superstore have not responded to repeated requests for comment on their future plans with the brand.
Elsewhere, Good Good creators Miestowski and Marissa Wenzler were named co-general managers of the Dallas Horsemen, a Grass League franchise, in late September. The league, which bills itself as the world’s first professional par-3 golf league, has never had female GMs. Miestowski and Wenzler also helm Good Good Girls, the brand’s female-focused arm, whose YouTube channel has gained roughly 2,000 subscribers in the last 30 days, according to Social Blade.
Former Good Good Partners Moving On
The long-term impact of the scandal on several of Good Good’s former partners remains to be seen.
Shares of Callaway are down 9% since the ad was released, but up 22% year-to-date. The publicly traded company will report third-quarter earnings on Nov. 11 and will likely discuss the ending of its retail and content partnership with Good Good, which first began in 2023.
The PGA Tour has yet to name a replacement title sponsor for its Austin Championship (formerly the Good Good Championship), which is still set to be played Nov. 12-15 at Omni Barton Creek Resort & Spa with a $6 million purse. PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp said he felt “confident” about finding a new sponsor and that there were several interested parties during a virtual press conference on Sept. 15.
Golf Channel is planning to reboot its Big Break series in 2027 without any connection to Good Good. There are no plans to release the season of Big Break x Good Good that was filmed and scheduled to debut on Aug. 25.
