Matt Kendrick, the CEO of Good Good Golf, is calling out Callaway Golf after the company cut ties with the apparel brand in the wake of their controversial ad.
“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, 40, wrote via X on Friday, August 28.
Responding to a social media user who said the ad “wasn’t that good,” Kendrick wrote, “Agree we made a terrible ad. No denying that. We apologize for that.”
Kendrick’s post comes one week after a Callaway commercial debuted on social media and was quickly pulled due to controversy over its depiction of violence toward women.
The ad, which was a collaboration between Good Good and Callaway, featured the former’s cofounder Garrett Clark running toward a woman, Good Good employee Alexis Miestowski, and shoving her to the ground after she attempted to pick up his Callaway Quantum driver.
“Do not touch my new driver,” Clark, 26, told Miestowski, also 26, in the ad.
After the commercial received a wave of backlash, Clark released a nine-minute-long video statement on Wednesday, August 26.
“I personally want to apologize for playing a role in this skit [and] this ad at the magnitude that I did,” he said. “On Good Good’s behalf and Good Good marketing’s behalf, I wanted to say an apology as well because this is not at all what we stand for. The way that this ad was received was not how Good Good is, and it’s not what we stand for, once again.”
Clark has also maintained that he did not actually touch Miestowski during production.
“I want everyone to know that I do not support DV, abuse or any of that of any kind,” he continued on Wednesday, claiming that the marketing team had “reached out” with an idea to recreate the 2026 horror movie Obsession, but between Clark and his driver. “Looking back, super dumb concept … not the greatest idea.”
Callaway has since severed its partnership with Good Good and announced its commitment to donating “$1 million to support organizations working to prevent violence against women, provide resources to survivors and advance education and awareness efforts.”
“Over the last several days, we have listened and reflected deeply on the hurt and disappointment caused by the video we reposted,” the company said in a statement on Thursday, August 27. “We heard from individuals who shared personal experiences related to violence against women, and their stories were powerful reminders that this issue touches the lives of far too many people. Unequivocally, violence against women is unacceptable and should never be trivialized, normalized or used as entertainment.”
The statement continued, “In this instance, our content review process was not comprehensive enough. We have taken appropriate internal corrective actions and significantly strengthened our approval procedures to help ensure this does not happen again.”
Callaway’s CEO, Chip Brewer, has also issued an apology.
“While the video was produced by Good Good, it was approved by Callaway prior to posting. That approval should never have happened,” he said in a social media statement. “Mistakes were made, and we are taking the matter very seriously. As we deal with the consequences of our mistake and complete our investigations, I want to make it clear that we sincerely apologize for the video. The content was inappropriate and does not reflect our values.”
Brewer continued, “To be clear: We are unequivocally against discrimination, domestic violence or threatening behavior of any kind. … We believe we have been a positive force for diversity and inclusion in the game of golf. This video was completely inconsistent with that. I assure you that we will learn from this and do better.”
