Made Ya Laugh

Social media phenom Hannah Aslesen strikes a comedic vein mining the game’s foibles, follies and eccentricities with St. André Golf.

Magazine

It’s become a daily ritual for millions of Americans: scrolling through the silly, cringeworthy and unbelievable videos that are regularly published on social media. Golf enthusiasts have easy access to countless clips of trick shots, highlights from the professional game and plenty of the lowlights of struggling amateurs.

But perhaps one of the most popular golf channels on social media over the last year and a half is St. André Golf (@standregolf), a series of comedy sketches which poke fun at the relatable and everyday episodes on the golf course, such as the ranger who takes their job too seriously or getting paired up with the dreaded single.

A critical component behind St. André Golf’s rising success has been Hannah Aslesen, an Edina, Minnesota, native who got her start at Interlachen Country Club—not on the course, but inside the storied clubhouse.

“That was my first introduction to golf,” says Aslesen, a former pole vaulter and basketball player who graduated from Edina High School in 2009. “I worked there in high school and then after college, I moved back home and started serving full-time in the dining room and in the Bobby Jones Room.”

It was at the University of Wisconsin where Aslesen first performed on stage, and upon graduating, found herself unsatisfied with a job in sales. She then dove into improv and comedy in Minneapolis.

“Comedy was always such a unique way to bond with people. It’s such a great diffuser, and improv is unique because it’s so in-the-moment,” she says. “Is there a way to translate what I think is funny on a universal wavelength so that everyone is laughing at a collective thing? That always felt so connected and inspiring. If I can do anything with people, I’d love to make them laugh with me.”

It didn’t take long before she began eyeing something bigger and more fulfilling, so she packed up her car and moved to Atlanta.

“I’ve had this mantra of when a city stops surprising me or I’m no longer interested, then it’s time to move,” Aslesen says. “That curiosity led me [to Atlanta], where I was fortunate to get involved with some improv within a couple of days—and within a couple of months, I was performing regularly.”

In August of 2022, Aslesen’s friend Aaron Chewning contacted her to gauge her interest in the prospect of comedy sketches depicting the tales of the ordinary golfer.

“Aaron has a degree in production, so he’s always been behind a camera. He’s also written a number of commercials. He hired me on a couple of projects previously, and the chemistry was always really good,” Aslesen says. “He asked if I liked golf and what my relationship to it was. Then one day he went to a coffee shop to write a sketch about golf and ended up writing 15 of them.”

Early on, Aslesen says the goal was to amass more than 10,000 followers in six months.

“I think we had that at the end of our first month, or in a matter of weeks,” she says. “It was so fast and organic. We never paid to boost or promote anything. We had natural engagement and follows. We started in August, and by December, Bridgestone had reached out and asked if we wanted to do some sketches with Tiger Woods.”

The collaboration of Chewning’s production team, Aslesen and fellow cast member Jonathon Pawlowski has helped St. André Golf post more than 220 videos to over 238,000 subscribers on YouTube and 378,000 followers on Instagram, to date.

The list of PGA Tour stars making an appearance in the videos has also grown to include Fred Couples, Jason Day and Joel Dahmen.

Now, more than a decade into improv and performance, Aslesen emphasizes the role of social media and how it could potentially benefit a younger generation of actors and content creators.

“[Social media] has definitely changed, and it’s gone through its ebbs and flows,” she says. “When I was starting off, it was merely for personal stuff. COVID really set the trajectory, because everyone was on TikTok and Instagram during that time trying to create things.

With 37 acting credits to her name, including FX’s “Archer” and Hulu’s “Will Trent,” which premiered in February, Aslesen says she foresees multiple ways of capitalizing on the popularity of St. André Golf, as well as her own performing career.

“We do a lot of long-form content. [We’re] always looking for ways to diversify what we do. I think, for all of us, the end goal would be to write a movie or write for TV in some capacity and take it to a more theatrical space,” she says. “I’m also working on some movies and projects of my own that, hopefully, get off the ground in the next year or two.”

As for Aslesen, more time around the golf course has translated into an appreciation for the game she first crossed paths with as a high schooler in Minnesota.

“The golf game is on the rise—I’m currently resting between a 16-18 handicap, which means I’m breaking a 100 when I play—but it ain’t always pretty,” she jokes, “which I like to think isn’t half bad for having only played [for] about a year and a half.”

Aslesen adds: “I’ll be playing in my first ever golf event this June—a nine-hole scramble—and I’m as nervous as I am excited. I’m hoping I don’t embarrass myself too bad. If I do, it’s a good thing comedy is full-time and not golf.”