From Golf Skeptic to Golf Sicko: Hannah Aslesen's Journey With the Game

Hannah Aslesen is a competitor at heart. Raised alongside three brothers whose house rule was “keep up or stay home,” she grew up on hockey rinks and basketball courts, where being competitive is less a personality trait and more of a lifestyle. She later traded the locker room for the writers’ room, building a career in comedy and acting. But the competitive spirit was always the driver.

Golf, for a long time, was the one game she felt like an outsider to. Aslesen spent nearly a decade working at a country club, close enough to the sport’s most polished side to decide it wasn’t for her. Private golf felt like a world built for someone else, and the idea of spending five hours chasing a ball around and getting mad at nature was not exactly ideal. “Miss me with that, brother,” she says now.

What changed her mind was a sketch. Aaron Chewning, founder of the comedy group St.André, asked her to appear in a golf bit, and Hannah obliged. She was there for the video views. Instead, she found herself fixated on one feeling: the pure strike of an iron. About three years later, she plays every week, often several times a week.

She's now chasing a single-digit handicap.

"I’ve played sports my whole life, but as a basketball and hockey kid, I could usually muscle my way through an off night. Not in golf," Hannah says. "It demands patience, mental toughness, and a finesse that doesn’t work if you’re mad at the ball (which I am, a lot)."

That obsession turned into Hannah Gets Good, a five-part series produced by St.André and the PGA of America. The premise was simple: play Hazeltine and break 90.

To get there, Aslesen spent time with PGA Coaches in Florida and Arizona, with each stop focused on a different weakness. Jason Baile, PGA, introduced her to reverse spine and sent her home with drills. Thor Parrish, PGA, worked on her balance and flexibility in the gym. At The Park, Bridget Ackley, PGA, and Steven Cox, PGA, led her through a short-game gauntlet that ended in her biggest fear, the bunker. In Scottsdale, Abby Parsons, PGA, of Pinnacle Peak Country Club helped sharpen her iron play before a test round on the short course at Saguaro Point.

The finale brought her to Hazeltine, where her mother joined in with running commentary. Aslesen finished with a 91, just short of the goal and a respectable score for a player who wasn’t interested in golf a few years ago.

Now that Hannah has fully immersed herself in the game, she's had experiences even the casual-ist of golf fans would envy.

"I’m probably the most hated person among my golf-loving family friends right now," Hannah says. "Because I’ve been lucky enough to play Pinehurst, East Lake, and Kiawah Island this early in my journey and shoot content with the likes of Tiger Woods and Tommy Fleetwood. It’s not lost on me how lucky I am."