08/31/2026
A note from our Founder & Wannabe Pro Golfer, Shannon. 🏌🏽♀️
What losing Dolly can teach Good Good Golf & Callaway Golf .
Last week, we lost Dolly Parton.
Despite the countless awards, chart topping records, songs, movies and extraordinary business success, that's not primarily what people talked about.
We talked about how Dolly made us feel.
Many stars are loved. Somehow, we all felt like Dolly loved us.
She gave generously, invested in education and helped people in crisis often without making herself the headline.
That lesson hasn't been lost on me as I've watched the Good Good/Callaway controversy unfold.
I personally don't believe these are terrible men or terrible companies. I believe many processes failed and you can read my personal thoughts in the LinkedIn post attached.
A creative concept was conceived, produced and approved that showed the only woman on the green being knocked down and threatened over touching a golf club. The intent may have been parody. The impact was something very different.
Comment sections and social media filled with defensive rhetoric instead of understanding added fuel to the fire.
Men & women dismissing the demands for accountability with “it was a joke,” “it wasn’t real violence. Know the difference,” or “she was paid” misses the point.
You don't have to be a woman or a domestic violence survivor to understand why it didn't seem funny to most.
Another huge takeaway … it wasn't smart business.
Women are the fastest-growing segment in golf, with their equipment and apparel market alone estimated at more than $2 billion in annual sales.
I wish the first responses had reflected the magnitude of the miss. I wish empathy had come before explanations and before consequences demanded stronger apologies.
Dolly understood something every leader and marketer should remember:
People may forget what you sold them. They never forget how you or your brand made them feel.
Mistakes happen. Own them. Learn from them. Do something meaningful. Then move forward.
Golf and the media have spent enough time talking about what went wrong. I'm much more interested in what we can do right next so we can all move forward for the better. I have a few ideas coming soon. 😉
Golfers, marketers, parents or leaders: I value your thoughts.
1. Do you think GGG & Callaway are being treated "too harshly"?
2. If you were advising the golf industry today, what would you do next to move this conversation forward, and better serve the future of the game?
PGA TOUR LPGA
The Callaway Golf /Good Good controversy is a business failure disguised as a bad ad. ✅ I’m a woman. ✅ I’m a golfer. ✅ My 13-year-old daughter plays competitive sports. ✅ I grew up in a home where domestic violence was real. So yes, I have an opinion about this one. However, I also have ...