Jillian Mele and Kristen Casey, Co-founders of LemonRose Golf
We want to start by saying how disappointed we are to be writing this. At a time when women and girls are helping drive the growth of golf, we never imagined we would be having a conversation like this, but here we are.
As two women who love golf and built a brand specifically for women in this sport, staying silent didn't feel right. We're business partners, best friends and women who care deeply about the game, but we don't have identical experiences or identical perspectives. So we're not going to pretend we do.
What follows are two female perspectives, written separately and honestly, about what happened, why it matters and where we hope golf goes from here.
Years ago I dated a guy who told me I was not good enough to golf with him and his friends. Not only did that hit me like a ton of bricks, it fueled something in me to want to create a more welcoming and inclusive environment in golf. It was years ago, but it stayed with me and probably always will.
I also spent nearly two decades in broadcast journalism. I covered controversies, apologies, corporate missteps and the inevitable fallout that followed. And I learned something along the way: stories have a shelf life and responses matter.
Something happens. Social media explodes. Statements are issued. People choose sides. Everyone has an opinion. And then, usually within a week or so, the news cycle moves on.
Last week, Good Good Golf and Callaway posted an advertisement promoting their co-branded driver. In the video, a woman reaches for the driver before a man runs toward her, seemingly shoves her to the ground and stands over her telling her not to touch it. The editing, suspenseful audio selection, sound effects and the gasp the woman makes as she falls to the ground were all part of the finished video and contributed to the way the scene was presented and received.
I am not sure if this story will fade as quickly as others because I think there is a part of it that should not be let go. The part where women believe so strongly in their right to be in the sport and to stand up for themselves. This is the stuff that makes or breaks companies and people and creates serious conversation about change.
This is a powerful moment.
That's why I didn't immediately write about this. I wanted to think. I learned from my time in journalism that everything doesn't require everyone to jump in and have an opinion right away. Some things are worth being thoughtful in your approach. I also don't believe silence automatically means someone doesn't care. And I certainly don't believe social media outrage is the same thing as meaningful change.
But I do believe that when something intersects directly with who you are, what you are building and the people you hope to represent, there are moments when using your voice matters.
For me, this is one of them.
Since I was a journalist for so long, let’s look at some of the facts at the time of this blog being posted. The video was deleted after backlash and both companies have apologized. Callaway CEO Chip Brewer later acknowledged something important: although Good Good produced the video, Callaway approved it before it was posted. Callaway then went further and ended its relationship with Good Good, said they internally corrected content review procedures, and promised to donate $1 million to support organizations working to prevent violence against women, provide resources to survivors, and advance education and awareness efforts. That is action from Callaway, and I am happy to see it.
The fallout quickly moved well beyond social media. Front Office Sports reports that Dick's Sporting Goods and Golf Galaxy have pulled Good Good merchandise from sales floors and their websites. The outlet also reported that several PGA Tour Superstore locations it contacted on the East Coast and in the Midwest had pulled Good Good merchandise.
The consequences have reached television, too. Golf Channel announced that it postponed the August 25 premiere of Big Break x Good Good until September 1 after one of the show's sponsors requested that its branding be removed from the series.
The fallout also reached the PGA Tour. CEO Brian Rolapp condemned the commercial calling it “concerning” and “clearly not aligned with PGA Tour values.”
This stopped being simply a social media controversy.
Those responses matter. Accountability matters. I would like to see more reassurance to women and young girls that they belong in this game and to make sure they know there is room for them in all aspects of golf, from the course to the boardroom.
It is right to ask how something like this gets created, reviewed, approved and published in the first place. Trust me, from experience, ads go through many approvals before they go live.
And for me, that's where this conversation becomes much bigger than a bad advertisement.
I love golf. I love the challenge of it, the friendships, the frustration, the tiny victories and the fact that no matter how well you play one day, golf will happily humble you the next.
But I also know what it feels like to be a woman on a golf course. That comment from years ago about not being good enough to play with the guys didn't disappear when I became a better golfer. I still remember how it made me feel.
I know the feeling of standing on a tee box knowing I don't hit the ball as far as most of the men around me. I know the feeling of wondering whether the group behind me thinks I'm playing too slowly, even when I'm not. I've been playing with men when another group approaches me to ask if they can play through, only to have the men I'm playing with look at me afterward and say, "They never would have asked me that."
I find myself picking up my ball when I probably don't need to, rushing when I probably don't need to, and being hyperaware of my pace, my swing, where my ball went and whether I'm somehow holding someone up.
Can I hold my own out there? Absolutely. Am I confident? Absolutely.
But confidence doesn't mean you don't notice when you're being treated differently.
And that's why this ad bothered me. Not because I believe a scripted advertisement means women aren't welcome in golf, but because women have spent years trying to feel like we belong in a game that, for a very long time, wasn't built with us in mind.
I also can't let this go without mentioning the many good men who make women feel welcome in this space and cheer on our success. I started playing golf with my dad and uncles and still play with them to this day. It is a special bond and time together that I will cherish forever. I want more girls to grow up playing golf with their dads, uncles, brothers and friends, feeling confident that they belong while making those core memories. That, to me, is what makes golf special.
Jillian Mele, Co-founder of LemonRose Golf with her dad and uncle
Garrett Clark of Good Good posted a lengthy TikTok video explaining the background and concept of the video, even saying himself that it was “super dumb.” But the damage had already been done. The communication specialist in me appreciates him showing his face on camera and addressing it directly. The woman golfer in me says, “Come on, how did you honestly think this was OK from the beginning?” And as the owner of a women’s golf apparel brand, I can't help but ask the same question.
I sent him a message asking if he wanted to chat about this on both Instagram and TikTok and, at the time of this writing, I did not hear back.
What concerns me even more isn't just about what women my age saw when they watched that video. It's what younger people saw.
And that's especially important right now because women and girls aren't sitting on the sidelines of golf's growth. They're helping drive it.
Jillian Mele and Kristen Casey, Co-founders of LemonRose Golf
According to the National Golf Foundation, more than 8.1 million women and girls played golf on a course in 2025, the highest number on record. Female participation has increased 45% since 2020, compared with 12% among men, and women and girls accounted for more than half of the net growth in on-course participation during that time.
Perhaps even more telling is what's happening with the next generation. Today, 35% of junior golfers are girls. In 2000, that number was just 15%.
The game is changing. The people playing it are changing. An entire generation of girls is growing up seeing golf as a game that belongs to them, too. Let’s keep it that way.
Jillian Mele and Kristen Casey, Co-founders of LemonRose Golf
Think about the young girl learning to play right now. She's walking onto courses that generations of women before her fought to have access to. She's watching female golfers become stars. She's seeing women's golf grow. She's watching women build businesses in the industry, design products for her, coach her and tell her there is a place for her here.
Then she opens her phone and sees something entirely different.
What message are we sending her?
But I don't think this conversation should stop with girls. What about the young boys watching?
Good Good has built an enormous audience in large part because it has made golf entertaining and accessible to a younger generation, including girls through other areas of its brand. That kind of reach comes with enormous opportunity, but it also comes with responsibility.
Young men are watching too. They're learning what gets laughs, what gets clicks, what gets rewarded and what behavior gets dismissed as a joke. That's why I don't think this is simply a conversation about women being offended by an advertisement.
It's a conversation about culture.
We live in a world where mistakes can be published to millions of people in seconds. And when the reaction is bad enough, we've become accustomed to a familiar sequence: delete, apologize, move on.
Sometimes that's appropriate. People make mistakes. Companies make mistakes. I certainly have. I don't believe every bad decision should permanently define a person or a brand.
But clicking delete doesn't erase what people saw, and saying "I'm sorry" doesn't automatically finish the conversation.
Sometimes the more important question is what happens next. Do you listen? Do you understand why people were hurt or disappointed? Do you put different voices in the room the next time a decision is being made? Do you actually change something?
Because inclusion isn't something a company proves in a statement after a controversy. It's something you demonstrate in the decisions you make before one.
In time, this story will probably disappear from most people's feeds. I know that because I've watched it happen hundreds of times. The next controversy will come along. The algorithms will move on. The headlines will change.
But women will still show up at golf courses. Young girls will still stand over their first tee shots feeling nervous. Young boys will still be watching the people who influence the sport they love. And the golf industry will still have a choice about the kind of game it wants to build for the next generation.
I don't want this moment to become another competition over who can be the most outraged. I want it to become something more useful. That’s why we took our time and chose to be thoughtful in our response. And for Good Good’s sake, I hope they learn from this, use it as an opportunity to do some good, and ultimately help make the game better for women in golf. Pun intended.
I want more women in the room. I want more perspectives around the table. And I want the companies with enormous influence over this game to understand that growing golf isn't simply about getting more people to play. It's about creating a game where more people feel like they belong.
Jillian Mele and Kristen Casey, Co-founders of LemonRose Golf
Because the future of golf isn't just about who picks up a club.
It's about who welcomes them when they do, no matter their gender, race, age or skill level.
We Belong Here
As a mother of a young daughter, this controversy hits me on a different level. Messages like this don't exist in a vacuum. Yes, they can be deleted and apologies can be made, but in the age of social media, the impact can last so much longer. As mothers, we have a responsibility to teach our daughters that they are allowed to take up space. They belong on the golf course. They belong in the boardroom. They belong in the CEO's office. They deserve to be heard, respected and taken seriously just as much as the men sitting across the table from them.
Kristen Casey, Co-founder of LemonRose Golf with daughter Lilliana
I don't know the woman in this ad, and I don't know her story, but I found myself wondering what her mother would say if she saw it.
Lilliana sees me walking onto a golf course with confidence, playing a game that I love with both men and women. She sees me making a career out of it. She sees me becoming a co-founder of a women's golf brand. She sees me wanting to create something for all women. She sees me, and she wants to follow in my footsteps. She wants to be a boss. And while she's too young to see this ad or understand it, the day will come when these are real conversations we will have to have, mother to daughter
Lilliana Casey daughter of co-founder Kristen Casey at the driving range Kristen Casey, co- founder of LemoRose Golf and her daughter at Intown Golf Club
We, as women, have had to fight to get to the places we are today. Whether that is in the corporate world or on the golf course, to see that progress mocked in an advertisement is heartbreaking. The women, friends and mothers in my life try our best every day to teach our girls to stand up for themselves and to recognize when something isn't right. Those conversations will evolve into teaching them to never accept intimidation or physical aggression as a normal part of a foursome, a relationship or any interaction.
No one is entitled to put their hands on another person. No one is entitled to use physical strength, status, confidence or position to make someone else feel less than. And to not only push her down, but then stand over her like a dominant figure, takes it to another level in my opinion. It’s difficult for me to understand how something like that could be viewed as harmless or funny, particularly in a sport where women are still working to establish their place and be taken seriously. Can I hold my own on a golf course? Sure. Do I already feel intimidated when there are mostly foursomes of men around me? Yes. Do I want to show my daughter that it's ok to play your best, no matter what that means to the people around you? Yes. We belong on the golf course just as much as the men do.
I don't want to share my personal story here, but I have witnessed all too closely what it feels like when a man believes he is entitled to prove a point by using his power, physically or otherwise, to make a woman feel smaller. Because of that experience, seeing an interaction like the one portrayed in this advertisement is difficult for me to dismiss as simply a joke or a marketing decision. I'm sure so many women were reminded of their own personal experiences and had to dig deep not to reopen healed or healing emotional wounds.
What deeply troubles me, almost as much as the ad itself, is the number of opportunities there must have been to stop it before it reached an audience. Someone wrote it. Someone pitched it. Someone approved it. Someone filmed it. Someone edited it. Someone ultimately decided it was appropriate to put the Good Good and Callaway names behind it. And yes, I know there is an investigation, but it still happened. At every one of those steps, there was an opportunity for someone to say, This isn't funny. This isn't the message we want to send.
And I think that distinction matters. Intent does not erase impact. Maybe the people involved intended it to be funny. Maybe they intended it to be provocative. But once something is put into the world, especially by brands with large audiences, the responsibility extends beyond what was intended. There is a responsibility to consider how it will be received and what it teaches the people watching it; especially girls.
Physical violence is never the answer. And I don't think we should normalize it for the sake of a laugh, a storyline or an advertisement.
For me, this isn't about being offended by a bad joke. It's about the responsibility that comes with having an audience, especially a young and impressionable one. I know all too well how much time young girls spend on social media and youtube. For them to see this message is actually infuriating to me because they deserve to feel confident and not have to question whether or not they belong in the same space as men. The girls watching this message are learning from them, whether the people creating them intend for that to happen or not.
Kristen Casey, Co-Founder of LemonRose Golf
I want my daughter, and every young girl watching, to grow up believing that she belongs wherever she chooses to be. On the golf course. In the boardroom. At the head of the company. And everywhere in between. She should never have to accept being pushed around, literally or figuratively, to earn her place there.
We have said throughout this piece that accountability means little without action, and we believe that applies to us, too. From now through the end of September, LemonRose Golf will donate a portion of our sales to a local organization supporting victims and survivors of domestic violence, as well as an organization dedicated to creating opportunities for girls in golf. We will soon share more about both organizations and the work they do. For us, this is about taking a difficult conversation and finding a way to turn it into something that supports women and girls both within the game we love and beyond it.