Golf is inherently humorous.
For ages, golfers have gleefully advised off-color jokes at their native golf equipment; motion pictures like “Caddyshack” and “Joyful Gilmore” have tickled audiences with their irreverence; authors like Rick Reilly have written books espousing the virtues of self-deprecating golf humor, and announcers like David Feherty have launched playful barbs at skilled golfers caught in a spot of hassle.
However as of just some years in the past, golf had hardly ever seen humor within the type of Saturday Evening Reside-esque sketch comedy—obtainable in short-form movies on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and past—carried out and produced by skilled comedians.
That void was crammed within the fall of 2022 by the Atlanta-based comedy group of St. André. In simply over two years, the group has shortly amassed greater than 440,000 Instagram and 330,000 TikTok followers. Dozens of their skits have gone viral on a number of platforms together with 25 different YouTube shorts being viewed more than one million times.
The skits function Aaron Chewning, Hannah Rae Aslesen and Jonathan Pawlowski—together with cameos from PGA Tour gamers, creator Bradford Wilson and different personalities—because the group navigates hilariously exaggerated conditions the common golfer encounters. Meaning all the pieces from the expertise of being paired with random people to having some backup when you need to confirm what score you shot whereas enjoying alone.
St. André is accessible in that anybody might be entertained even when their golf background is minimal. That’s a part of the magic.
However the relatable inside jokes hit the candy spot of a die-hard golfer’s humorous bone, cleverly punching at this self-serious sport that lends itself to comedy in a means less-deranged sports activities can’t grasp.
No person else within the golf creator house has completed this in addition to they’ve.
The origins of St. André
So how do you begin a golf comedy sketch group?
The story begins with Chewning, who earned a movie diploma at Full Sail College in Winter Park, Fla., earlier than transitioning to what he actually needed: “messing round on the web with my mates,” as he places it.
Chewning received traction in short-form video on the now-defunct Vine and labored as a artistic director for various advertising and marketing companies specializing in comedic gross sales movies. On the aspect, he produced a few of his personal comedy sketches and dabbled in standup.
Being within the Atlanta comedy and improv scene led Chewning to Aslesen and Pawlowski, comedians who had moved to the world.
When Chewning, a 7-handicap who has been a lifelong golfer, developed the thought of making golf sketches, he knew Aslesen and Pawlowski needed to be concerned although neither of them got here into St. André as avid golfers (that has since modified as Aslesen is now enjoying 3 times every week and often breaking 90). He had labored with them beforehand on artistic tasks and felt they might get the idea.
Chewning grinded over sketches and setup for 9 months previous to the group’s launch in August 2022. He received permission to movie at Heritage Golf Links (in Tucker, simply northeast of the town) which is the place many of the movies are nonetheless shot.
(Regardless of some commenter issues, St. André is just not holding up anybody on the course throughout filming. Movies are shot on devoted components of the course which were rented out or blocked off so no person performs them at the moment).
“That was my terrifying 12 months of quitting my job, taking out a bank card and being like, ‘This positively higher work or I’m screwed,’” Chewning mentioned. “I went to a espresso store to write down a sketch and ended up writing 9 to 10 pages of sketches. That was the lightbulb second of golf being such an ideal backdrop for comedy like this. There may be each dynamic on the course, so many emotions.
“It went from a pair sketches to ‘This may very well be a model and I may do that endlessly.’”
Chewning had certainly invested plenty of time, cash and emotion into the challenge. Whereas he would have recovered again into his profitable profession if St. André in some way tanked, he didn’t need to do this.
After falling again in love with golf over the pandemic, he noticed a chance for golf to embrace short-form content material that differed from different creators who had been targeted on YouTube matches, the written phrase or no matter else it is likely to be.
“I noticed a lane open,” Chewning mentioned. “I like golf content material, love the Bob Does Sports activities guys. There are plenty of humorous folks in golf however not a ton of well-produced sketch comedy. I believed if I may discover a option to fiddle on a golf course and name that work, it might be a dream.”
For these questioning, the title St. André is a hybrid of St Andrews, the long-lasting golf course, and André 3000, the born-and-raised Atlantan rapper who fashioned one-half of the hip-hop duo Outkast. (Chewning was sporting an Outkast sweater throughout our interview.)
“The purpose was to have a reputation that appears good on a shirt that wasn’t a golf joke like Fore Play or Temper Swings or no matter else it may very well be,” Chewning mentioned. “I needed it’s a model and sound like old-school golf a bit bit.”
After the launch—the primary video featured the crew wanting by a rangefinder to get an encouraging message from their fathers quite than seeing a yardage—the response was instantaneous.
Chewning knew they’d one thing after the primary week.
“We had a year-long plan. We had been going to provide it a 12 months and prayed that it labored. There have been a number of pages like Zire Golf, PGA Memes, the place in the event that they picked up our stuff, we knew that we had one thing. We needed to get on these pages within the first three to 4 months. By the tip of the primary week, we had been on all of them.
“It shortly went from, ‘Let’s develop this factor and make it work’ to ‘Don’t screw it up. Let’s maintain feeding the beast and see what occurs.’”
A number of months later, St. André was filming with the greatest golfer in history.
A viral rise and chopping it up with Tiger
Simply three months after launching, St. André obtained an e mail from an Atlanta-based manufacturing firm that labored with Bridgestone Golf. They’d seen among the sketches and wanted to see if the group could work to promote Bridgestone, a brand that wanted to be seen as having fun.
Bridgestone’s most well-known golfer? Tiger Woods.
“We thought the e-mail was pretend till we received on a name,” Chewning mentioned. “I had been enjoying Bridgestone balls and golf equipment for years and years. Actually, I might have mentioned sure to no matter model emailed us first however thank God it was Bridgestone.”
Extremely, St. André went from launching on the finish of August 2022 to filming with Tiger (and different Bridgestone gamers like Jason Day and Fred {Couples}) that December. A number of sketches had been shot after which launched in 2023.
Amongst these sketches was one the place Tiger is standing over a tee shot because the St. André crew watches. Tiger unintentionally knocks over his ball, resulting in consternation among the many group whether or not to tease him with the “that’s one” joke.
“He received the idea of what we had been making an attempt to do and liked it instantly,” Chewning mentioned. “He’ll be the primary one to confess he has a tough time remembering strains however he was into it. In between takes, he would come stand subsequent to us and chop it up. All of us had been laughing. It was actually cool.”
The morning earlier than taking pictures, Chewning mentioned he was crying in a tub, overwhelmed at what their group had completed. St. André had solely amassed 30,000 Instagram followers at the moment, nevertheless it felt just like the group had already made it.
“Taking pictures with Tiger, that was simply past bucket checklist. I didn’t even dream that massive once we launched. But in addition it simply sort of hit me that day how we took an enormous threat and went all-in on this concept and I believe we’ve formally modified our lives.”
That’s much more true right now than it was again then. St. André is totally ingrained in golf tradition. Your golf mates won’t acknowledge the title instantly however most of them know the faces of the comedians. And when the crew goes all the way down to the PGA Present in Orlando, they’re universally beloved celebrities.
Practically three years after forming, St. André has advanced. The group used to shoot as soon as per week in Atlanta however now shoots extra sporadically, preferring to batch content material by filming extra skits in the identical time interval to release house for different endeavors like longer-form YouTube movies. Additionally they have workplace house now so Aslesen, Pawlowski and the manufacturing crew can come collectively. Chewning nonetheless writes many of the sketches however everybody within the group has enter.
This isn’t a full-time job for everybody concerned. Aslesen, a proficient author, simply launched a brief movie and is procuring a sitcom pilot. Pawlowski, along with different comedy appearing, performs in a Limp Bizkit cowl band known as Limp Triscuit.
However this trio and manufacturing crew love working collectively. There may be an alchemy there and it comes out within the polished completed product. Others have tried to copy the SNL vibe of St. André however no person has come shut within the short-form comedy class.
Shifting ahead, the thought is to maintain the sketches whereas additionally increasing long-form YouTube content material like journey, matches and longer, more-scripted content material like this “Influencer Coaching” video they not too long ago shot with the DP World Tour.
And be careful MyGolfSpy readers (and writers!) as a result of Chewning is a daily right here. His subsequent concept for a sketch is likely to be coming from this remark part.
“We strive to determine methods to parody (MyGolfSpy), which is an indication of respect,” Chewning mentioned. “Simply know, y’all are on our radar in a really loving means.”
Hey, St. André, right here is an MGS-inspired concept you’ll be able to have free of charge: A husband and spouse get up throughout the midnight to discover a burglar of their home. The burglar begins asking for valuables and leads the husband into the storage the place they come across a L.A.B putter. The burglar accosts the husband: “Properly, does that factor work? Will it repair my placing?”
The frazzled husband takes the burglar exterior throughout the midnight to allow them to each work on his placing on the driveway. In the meantime, the spouse is horrified; she known as the cops a very long time in the past. The cop exhibits up and is confused by the scene of the husband now teaching the burglar. As soon as the cop will get the story straight, he takes a protracted stare on the two of them and says, “OK, present me the way it works.” Now the three of them are standing over a L.A.B. putter like caveman watching a hearth.
Lower to the spouse, who’s rolling her eyes and going again to mattress. Finish scene.
Their success has opened the door for partnerships
St. André doesn’t simply work with Bridgestone. Their good-natured comedic act has delivered partnerships and an actual enterprise.
Among the many companions are apparel brand Johnnie-O, PGA TOUR Superstore and Lengthy Drink. St. André has collaborated with the manufacturers to create movies for them or function their merchandise.
It’s an fascinating house proper now with creators. We now have been seeing plenty of membership producers get extra concerned with signing and selling YouTubers. Even Titleist—seen as a extra conventional model—now has relationships with the likes of No Laying Up, Peter Finch and Micah Morris.
We’re reaching some extent the place manufacturers are spending important sources on creators as a result of these are the folks connecting with the common golfer. There is no such thing as a doubt creators influence the underside line in a means the One hundredth-ranked golfer on the earth doesn’t.
For Johnnie-O—a extra lighthearted model that likes to have enjoyable—partnering with St. André was a no brainer resolution.
“If you happen to sponsor a tour professional who made $25 million on the course, their job is to play golf,” mentioned Dave Neville, Johnnie-O’s Senior Vice-President of Advertising. “I get the query rather a lot about which tour professionals put on Johnnie-O and I clarify to those that many of the tour professionals don’t transfer the needle a lot and aren’t essentially excited to put on the product. And for those who work with them, it’s a must to activate these folks. You want a crew and schedule it and distribute it.
“Content material creators like St. André, their job is to entertain folks. That’s how they get sponsorships and earn cash. Individuals discover them. And so they create the content material themselves—they produce it and distribute it. And they’re excited to put on our attire. For somebody like us that wishes to extend our model consciousness, it is smart.”
Johnnie-O has three prongs in its creator model consciousness purpose: educate, encourage and entertain. Danny Maude, a prime YouTube teacher, is a major a part of the training piece. Finch, one other YouTuber, is on the encourage aspect of the equation as he produces plenty of movies about chasing targets (like making an attempt to qualify for the Open Championship). Lastly, there may be St. André for the leisure portion.
“Their vibe matches us with not taking themselves too critically,” Neville mentioned. “However for those who watch them, all the pieces they do may be very prime quality. And that matches us with how our clothes is top quality.”
Whereas producers nonetheless put plenty of eggs within the basket of prime tour gamers gaming their gear, the brand-creator house has “exploded” and “reached an inflection level,” in keeping with Neville.
“Clearly these of us can drive gross sales,” Neville mentioned. “And for those who take a look at participant No. 132 on the PGA Tour, I don’t suppose that man is driving gross sales.”
After I was placing this story collectively, one of many issues that stood out was how St. André has established a distinct segment. We’re in an period the place golf content material creation focuses closely on YouTube matches, collaborations and quick-witted social media commentary. There may be nothing incorrect with that nevertheless it’s simple to get misplaced within the shuffle for those who fall into that class.
With a bunch like St. André, their lane is way much less crowded whereas the product continues to be skilled, relatable and marketable.
That’s a dynamic mixture.
Golf continues to be as humorous as we’ve all the time recognized it to be however the type has modified. It’s being reinvented.
For that, we are able to all pray to St. André.
The submit How St. André Is Reinventing Golf Comedy appeared first on MyGolfSpy.
