In the wake of a controversial ad created by YouTube channel-turned-golf brand Good Good Golf to promote a co-branded Callaway driver that featured a male golfer shoving a female golfer to the ground, Golf Channel is postponing the premiere of the latest season of the Big Break x Good Good reality show.
The 24th edition of Big Break had been slated to begin Tuesday evening. However, Golf Channel announced shortly beforehand that it was postponing the episode, in part because a sponsor had requested removal from the series.
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“Golf Channel is postponing tonight’s premiere of Big Break x Good Good to next Tuesday, September 1,” read a statement. “This will allow for necessary production updates following a request from one of the show’s sponsors to remove its branding from the series.”
According to David Rumsey at Front Office Sports, Golf Galaxy is the sponsor that has requested removal from the series. The golf retailer was the overall presenting sponsor and its name had been part of the show’s branding.
The offending ad, initially released last week to promote a driver, featured Good Good co-founder Garrett Clark shoving former Division I golfer Alexis Miestowski to the ground before telling her, “Do not touch my new driver.” The ad was quickly condemned on social media for glorifying domestic violence and was deleted soon after.
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Good Good later released a statement, saying it sincerely apologizes for the ad and that it didn’t “align with our values as a brand.” In later comments to the Wall Street Journal and in a post on LinkedIn, CEO Matt Kendrick took ownership of the mistake and acknowledged that the commercial “came across” as condoning violence.
Callaway has reportedly removed the co-branded line from its site, and its CEO also admitted that they greenlit the commercial, which he called “inappropriate,” and apologized for it.
At a press conference on Tuesday, PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp was notably critical of the ad and Good Good’s initial response, which he called “defensive.”
“I think initially, no,” Rolapp said when asked if Good Good took accountability for the mishap. “What we saw was concerning; it’s clearly not aligned with PGA Tour values. We take it very seriously. I think their initial response was very disappointing. It was a bit defensive and late.”
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All of which leads up to Tuesday night, with the first shoe dropping in the wake of the ill-advised advertisement, as some wonder whether the PGA Tour might pull the YouTube brand’s name from the Good Good Championship, an upcoming event in Austin. On Tuesday, Rolapp said it was a “fluid situation.”
This season of Big Break, which pits aspiring professional golfers against each other, is the first iteration in 10 years and was filmed at Horseshoe Bay Resort near Austin, Texas. The winner of this season receives a sponsor’s exemption into the PGA Tour’s Good Good Championship.
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