Nick Dunlap became the first golfer since 1991 to win a PGA Tour event as an amateur, after Phil Mickelson. Then, the 20-year-old phenom turned pro and started adjusting to the Tour life, though he lost the momentum for a bit. However, he regained form and won the Barracuda Championship. While life on the course was coming together, off the course, Dunlap’s life took a messy turn.

Dunlap’s parents, Jim and Chelsea Dunlap, and his family lawyer, W. Scott Simpson, got involved in a legal dispute with his manager, Kevin Canning, and the agency he was signed with, GSE Worldwide, in March. The agency has clients like Bryson DeChambeau, Sergio Garcia, and Sam Burns. But what was Dunlap’s family’s claim, and what is the agency saying?

Did Nick Dunlap’s manager disparage the pro’s father? 

GSE Worldwide and Kevin Canning have been representing Nick Dunlap since he was part of the Crimson Tide. The firm dealt with Dunlap’s NIL contract and deals with Adidas and TaylorMade after he turned pro. GSE told Golfweek, “We were honored when Nick announced his move into professional golf and acknowledged our role in his success.”

However, Canning told the Sports Business Journal that when they were working on a new player representation contract, W. Scott Simpson made the deal between GSE WW and Nick Dunlap Golf (NDG, LLC) instead of just Dunlap. He claimed that the contract was designed in such a way that it would give Dunlap’s parents and his advisor authority and control over his revenue and marketing moves as they held a 1 percent share in the LLC.

The day-to-day manager also stated that Simpson wanted to keep GSE’s fees in connection with the deal assisted by the firm. So, when Simpson filed an arbitration request to the American Arbitration Association (AAA) regarding the contract with GSE Worldwide, citing a breach of contract by Canning, he filed a suit, citing that the claims weren’t arbitrable.

On the other hand, Simpson, the family attorney, filed the countersuit in April, saying that during the Arnold Palmer Invitational, Canning spoke to a business associate at the NDG LLC and disparaged Dunlap’s father. He said Jim Dunlap was “a drunk, controlling, alcoholic a**hole” who was too tough on the PGA Tour. The SBJ further reported that while GSE and Canning said that Simpson fabricated the claims, the other party pressed that they didn’t.

But why weren’t the claims arbitrable, per Canning?

Why did Nick Dunlap’s manager deny the arbitration claims by Dunlap’s family? 

SBJ reporter Josh Carpenter added that Canning claims he was not the one who ever signed the agreement with Dunlap’s parents and his lawyer. And he never agreed to arbitration. In turn, it was GSE Worldwide president Andrew Witlieb who signed the papers. Thus, the arbitration claims against him were not true.

While Nick Dunlap’s mother, Chelsea Dunlap, had more to say about Canning, She alleged Canning “regularly tried to divide the family in order to gain total control over our son” and has a “history of badmouthing both me and my husband.” The family hoped that the federal court would pass the verdict in their favor.

GSE Worldwide expressed that they were left with no choice but to defend their firm after being put into a legal situation. Both parties were ordained to present before Judge L. Scott Coogler on July 18 in Tuscaloosa. The dispute stays in motion without either party coming to a settlement as of now.