The Good Good Championship Is a Good Thing

I like to watch golf on the weekends with my youngest daughter. She’s 13, and she’s been following along closely ever since she was 7. I frequently explain to people that she could recognize Will Zalatoris on the screen before she could identify Lamar Jackson or LeBron James. When the “Have Your Spouse or Kid Name 30 Golfers” thing was going around on Twitter recently, I knew I couldn’t enlist her because I’m confident she could name 50 and keep going. She understands golf better than some professional podcasters I know. But this past week, she was confused by something on one of the broadcasts, and wanted to know if I could clear it up. 

“Dad,” she asked. “What is Viagra? Why are the commercials always talking about it?” 

I believe in telling my girls the truth, so I did my best and provided her with a very factual explanation, watching her face turn a new shade of pink as each additional word came out of my mouth. I suspect it is a moment of parental embarrassment that she’ll remember long after I’m gone. I kind of wanted to forget it, but it came to mind again when I read the news that Good Good Golf was sponsoring a PGA Tour event next fall. 

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The idea that anyone would be genuinely upset about Good Good’s entree into professional golf — and there did seem to be at least some people in that camp, judging by social media reactions — when we have been bombarded with erectile dysfunction ads and alcohol ads for decades is laughable. We lowered whatever made-up standards we had for sponsors in this sport long ago. 

Even if Good Good is not your thing, and I confess I have seen only a few of their videos, they are by every indicator wholesome and entertaining. I would so rather watch some of their videos with my kids than answer questions about Blue Chew or Cialis. The outrage over Good Good entering into this partnership, if you can even call it that, feels entirely performative. And if it is genuine, it feels woefully out of touch. And this is coming from a 47-year-old. 

This is a fall event we’re talking about! This is not sacred ground that is being tilled for content. There ought to be room to experiment in the fall and have fun. Does that mean Grant Horvat and Garrett Clark should get a spot in the field? That’s not for me to decide. But that would go down as the most literal example of a “sponsor’s exemption” in the history of the PGA Tour. If you have somewhere between $5 million and $15 million to put up for an event, I’m confident you can get what you want if it helps your YouTube channel. 

The PGA Tour has to find a way to draw in younger fans, and I suspect that’s why Brian Rolapp was eager to embrace this partnership. It’s why the NFL was happy to open its doors to Netflix for yearly documentaries. That's where young people live. 

There is often a weird undercurrent of resentment in the YouTube golf creator community that the old heads in media (I suspect I qualify) don’t “get it” and want to see YouTube golf fail. This is absurd. I’m all for it. Hell, I’ll even wear one of those weird sweaters Good Good debuted this week. 

Anything that helps me change the subject when the boner ads come on.