Callaway & Good Good: What Were They Thinking?

I’ve watched a lot of golf content over the years. Some of it is ridiculous, some of it pushes boundaries, and honestly, I’m usually all for finding ways to make golf feel less serious.

But the Callaway x Good Good commercial that came out last week? I can’t get behind it.

If you haven’t seen it, the ad features Good Good co-founder Garrett Clark and Alexis Miestowski, a former collegiate golfer and member of Good Good’s women’s content. Alexis reaches for the new Callaway driver, Garrett rushes over and knocks her to the ground, stands over her and tells her not to touch his driver.

It was supposed to be a joke.

I just don’t understand why a man physically overpowering a woman needed to be part of the punchline.

And what really gets me is how many people had to see this before it reached our screens.

This wasn’t a random video someone filmed and uploaded without thinking. It was an advertisement involving Good Good and one of the biggest equipment companies in golf. Callaway’s CEO has since acknowledged that the company approved the ad before it was published.

At some point there was a concept. A script. A shoot. An edit. An approval process. And somehow, at every stage, nobody stopped this from going out.

That’s what I find so disappointing.

And then there’s Alexis.

This part is particularly difficult for me.

Alexis is part of Good Good’s efforts to grow its women’s golf content—something I would normally be thrilled to see. Women’s golf needs more visibility, and young female golfers and creators deserve platforms where they can build audiences and bring more women into this game.

So to see one of those same women on the ground as the punchline of an advertisement feels completely at odds with that mission.

I don't know what conversations happened behind the scenes, and I don't know why Alexis agreed to participate. I certainly don't want to speculate about whether she felt pressured or believed saying no could affect her opportunities.

But the fact that I'm even left wondering about those dynamics tells you something about how uncomfortable this ad was to watch.

“It was a joke” isn’t enough for me.

I know the commercial was staged. I know Good Good says the concept was meant as a parody. And I’m not claiming Garrett Clark, Alexis, or anyone else involved personally condones violence against women.

I'm criticizing what they chose to put into the world.

You can make golf content edgy. You can make it weird. You can make fun of golfers becoming completely obsessed with a new driver.

There are a thousand ways to make that funny without making a woman being knocked to the ground part of the joke.

And apparently I’m far from the only person who felt that way.

The backlash has been enormous. Good Good and Callaway both apologized, retailers have pulled Good Good merchandise, and PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp publicly criticized the situation. Callaway has now gone even further, ending its partnership with Good Good and pledging $1 million to organizations working to combat violence against women.

Good Good has also withdrawn as title sponsor of its upcoming PGA Tour event.

Those are significant consequences, and I think they demonstrate why dismissing the reaction as people simply being “too sensitive” misses the point.

Here’s the question I keep coming back to:

At what point does edgy humor just become bad judgment?

Golf is already working to become a game where more women feel welcomed, represented and taken seriously.

If we're serious about that, the content surrounding the game matters too.

I don’t need every golf commercial to be perfectly polished or politically correct. In fact, please don't make them boring.

Be irreverent. Be ridiculous. Push boundaries.

Just find a better punchline than violence against a woman.

– Amanda