Good Good, for now: Former Gonzaga golfer Sean Walsh’s improbable path to East Lake ahead of FedEx Cup final

Sean Walsh has played golf in South America, China, Canada, Switzerland and the Dominican Republic.

The former Gonzaga Bulldog has toured storied U.S. courses from Kapalua to Whistling Straits to Pinehurst No. 2. He’s navigated majestic links tracks in Europe and took on the Olympic venue in Paris not long before Scottie Scheffler captured gold.

As the golf world’s attention turns later this week to the Tour Championship at East Lake in Atlanta, Walsh will be there, just not quite in the role he’s dreamed of as a professional golfer.

Walsh and 15 others prominent on golf-related social media platforms will play in the Creator Classic on Wednesday at East Lake, the day before the first round of the FedEx Cup’s final tournament.

“Definitely my priority still lies in getting to East Lake by being in the top 30 (of the FedEx Cup standings),” Walsh said. “This is something I never thought I’d be doing, but I’m so happy to be doing it.”

Walsh and a few of his cohorts at Good Good Golf (1.6 million YouTube subscribers) will tee it up in the nine-hole event alongside the likes of Paige Spiranac (former Arizona and San Diego State golfer with 4 million Instagram followers) and Tyler Toney of Dude Perfect (60.4 million YouTube subscribers).

The field includes Luke Kwon, Walsh’s longtime friend who helped introduce him to the burgeoning social media presence in golf. The two are friends from junior golf in Texas and played countless rounds in the Dallas area during the COVID pandemic.

Walsh was invited to play a pro event put on by Good Good – who hasn’t said that to a buddy when facing 4-foot putts? – last year and finished second. “For whatever reason, the guys liked me,” Walsh said, “and told me I might be good on camera.”

Walsh quickly figured out the folks in charge knew what they were doing and were adept at building huge online audiences with their entertaining golf videos.

“At the core, it is a couple of buddies that go out and play golf,” he said. “Literally, all the comments are, ‘This is our group with a camera following us.’ ”

Walsh is sponsored by Good Good and wears its apparel at events. He recently went on a Good Good trip to Whistling Straits, which has hosted four majors and a Ryder Cup.

“I go on a lot of trips with them,” Walsh said. “I love hanging with the (Good Good) boys. They can play some golf.”

And draw some eyeballs. A Good Good video posted a month ago with Steph Curry featuring hoops and golf registered 1.5 million views. Another recent video of a $10,000 charity match drew 469,000 views and nearly 1,000 comments. Those types of numbers are why the Creator Classic was created. It’s the PGA Tour’s nod to the relevance and influence of golf’s biggest social media outlets.

PGA stars Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth and Max Homa, and LIV’s Jon Rahm, Phil Mickelson and Sergio Garcia have appeared on several “Creators” video channels.

Several months ago, Walsh teamed with Kwon, who left Good Good to go solo on YouTube, to take on Garcia and his LIV Fireballs’ teammate Abraham Ancer in an 18-hole match. Kwon and Ancer were teammates at Oklahoma.

Walsh and Kwon lost by a wide margin, but it was pretty even in terms of quips in the foursome. The video quality was top notch, despite rainy conditions, with shot tracers of nearly every shot and cart-mounted cameras.

On one hole, the guys covered their favorite foods, Ancer’s first win and Garcia’s mindset when putts are doing everything but falling into the cup. It’s all highly entertaining with the right blend of one-liners, competitiveness and camaraderie. More than 310,000 tuned into Kwon’s YouTube channel for two videos spanning nearly two hours.

“You guys know why you’re two down?” Garcia asked after the opening hole.

“Because we suck, because we made five and you made three,” came the reply.

“Because we’ve only played one hole,” Garcia cracked.

After the match, the players walked into the bar to grab a bite to eat. “And a couple guys turned around said, ‘Oh my gosh, it’s Luke.’ They recognized Luke,” Walsh recalled. “It’s a crazy world.”

Even for Walsh, who gets recognized more often at his local driving range in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

“I still keep in touch with (Gonzaga coach Robert) Gray and a lot of the guys,” the 30-year-old Walsh said. “I got a text from (former teammate) James Fahy, ‘So my sister’s boyfriend walked into the house wearing a Good Good shirt.’ ”

Walsh was about to delete his Instagram account but after a strong finish at a Good tournament his wife told him, ‘You can’t do that now.’

In addition to playing memorable golf courses, working with Good Good and Kwon provides income that allows Walsh to continue playing professional golf.

He’s played in 48 events on the Korn Ferry Tour and PGA Tours in China, Latin America and Canada.

“It’s hard to make money on the minitours,” Walsh said. “We got married in 2022 and we had a daughter in February. Pro golf can be a little bit of a burden on your significant other. This has given me a chance to be a significant contributor to the family.”

It’s also given him a new on-course outlook when competing at pro tournaments.

“It’s refreshing, almost,” Walsh said. “It takes me back to just playing golf, not thinking about my swing. I’m still incredibly confident, even after playing seven years as a pro, in my abilities. It frees me up to go play and why I love golf, playing with your buddies and enjoying it like anybody else. That, and it’s still competitive because you’re playing against good players.”

That’ll be the case again Wednesday at East Lake. His invite came via a casual email from Good Good’s executive producer outlining the upcoming schedule and asking Walsh if he had conflicts. Fittingly, Walsh found out it was a nine-hole event when he was tagged in an Instagram story.

He has a couple of golf trips coming in September as he tries to keep his game sharp for qualifying school in October.

“Basically, I’ve done everything in pro golf except the cool stuff that pays a lot,” Walsh said.

He fully acknowledges he’s done a ton of cool stuff that has helped pay the bills.

“I decided to miss a cut in Illinois and not meet Steph, so I’m clearly not making good life choices,” Walsh joked. “This is a side of golf I never knew existed, something I never thought about in a million years.

“It’s been fun. I’ve been very blessed. It’s taken me to some incredible places.”

Jim Meehan can be reached at 509-459-5585 or at jimm@spokesman.com.