Matt Kendrick #

Introduction #

Matt Kendrick, the chief executive and a partner of the YouTube golf company Good Good from its founding in 2020, was removed from the company on September 2, 2026, along with president Joe Flannery, after the brand’s co-branded Callaway Golf advertisement — in which co-founder Garrett Clark shoves a female employee to the ground — drew immense backlash for its parallels to domestic violence and abuse. Callaway Golf, whose driver the ad promoted, ended its partnership with the company, retailers pulled Good Good merchandise from their shelves, and Golf Channel scrapped the reality series “Big Break x Good Good,” while Good Good co-founder Nahid Giga stepped in as interim CEO. The ad’s posting on August 21 set off a chain of corporate exits that, within under two weeks, cost Good Good its founding CEO, its president, its vice president of brand and marketing, and — on the Callaway side — one of its directors.

Background Information #

Good Good is an American sports YouTube channel and company based in Frisco, Texas, founded in 2020 by Garrett Clark, Stephen Castaneda, and Matt Scharff, focused on golf challenges and games and credited with popularizing the sport with a younger demographic; as of September 2, 2026, the channel had roughly 2.12 million subscribers and 719.3 million views. Kendrick was not one of the channel’s on-camera founders, but he was one of the company’s partners and served as its CEO from the founding until his departure in September 2026; he had previously overseen the fishing channel Googan Squad and met Clark at a golf tournament. It was Kendrick who suggested the company’s name — a term used between golfers on the putting green when both concede short putts — and because he lived in Frisco, the young company relocated there from Kansas City rather than the other way around.

Under Kendrick, Good Good grew from a YouTube channel into a merchandise-driven business — its premium apparel brand reportedly contributed 75% of the company’s monthly revenue in 2025 — and into mainstream golf: a seven-figure Callaway partnership announced in January 2023, a $45 million funding round in March 2025 backed by investors including Peyton Manning’s Omaha Productions, and the title-sponsored Good Good Championship added to the PGA Tour schedule in October 2025.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation #

On August 21, 2026, Callaway and Good Good released an advertisement for a new co-branded driver, a Callaway Quantum customized with Good Good’s branding. The spot showed Clark sprinting over as Alexis Miestowski, a former NCAA Division I golfer associated with the channel, reached into a golf bag for the club; Clark shoved her with his forearm, stood over her after she yelled and fell to the ground, and told her, “Do not touch my new driver.” The ad was meant to serve as a parody of the movie “Obsession”, but it was accused of promoting violence against women and received backlash because it drew parallels to domestic violence and abuse; the since-deleted ad was pulled two days later, with Good Good saying it “ultimately depicted actions that are not aligned with our values as a brand” and that “Good Good has always stood for making the game of golf more inclusive to all”. In an uncomfortable piece of timing, Flannery had been announced as Good Good’s president on August 21 — the same day the ad was published.

Public Reaction and Consequences #

The fallout was swift and corporate. Callaway CEO Chip Brewer apologized for approving the video, saying, “The content was inappropriate and does not reflect our values,” and, “To be clear: we are unequivocally against discrimination, domestic violence, or threatening behavior of any kind”; on August 27 the company ended its content and merchandising partnerships with Good Good effective immediately and pledged $1 million to organizations working to “prevent violence against women, provide resources to survivors, and advance education and awareness efforts.” Dick’s Sporting Goods and its subsidiary Golf Galaxy pulled Good Good products from their stores and withdrew their sponsorship of “Big Break x Good Good,” and after Good Good also withdrew as title sponsor of its own PGA Tour event — saying, “we recognize that we have work to do as an organization” — Golf Channel announced the series would not be aired. On September 1, Good Good fired Jeffrey Lefkovits, its vice president of brand and marketing, while Callaway fired one of its directors.

Kendrick himself pushed back. In a post on X on August 28, he called it “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,” and further alluded in his replies to potentially suing the golf company.

Current Status #

As of the reporting, Kendrick and Flannery were no longer with Good Good. Business Insider reported on September 2 that both executives had left the company, citing an internal memo to employees from executive Alex Puchala saying Kendrick had stepped down and Flannery had also decided to leave; USA TODAY described both as removed “according to multiple reports”, and both outlets reported that co-founder Nahid Giga is serving as interim CEO. Good Good, which apologized for the video, had by early September lost its Callaway partnership, its shelf space at Dick’s and Golf Galaxy, its Golf Channel series, and its PGA Tour tournament sponsorship. Whether Kendrick stepped down or was pushed remained unclear: Business Insider reported he had stepped down, while USA TODAY described both executives as removed according to multiple reports.

Impact on Their Career/Life #

Kendrick had run Good Good for essentially its entire existence, from naming the company and anchoring it in Frisco to building it into a merchandise and media business with partnerships spanning the PGA Tour, network television, and one of golf’s biggest equipment makers. Within roughly a week and a half of the ad’s posting, that footprint had largely unwound, and he had lost the CEO role at the company he helped create and named. His parting public posture — accusing Callaway of a “coordinated media blitz” and floating a lawsuit — meant his exit came not as a quiet transition but amid an ongoing public dispute with the brand that had been his company’s most prominent partner. Whatever the final accounting of who approved the spot, his tenure ended with the brand he led stripped of the deals that had defined its growth.