Professional's Social Media Post About Practice Causes Heated Split

Professional golfer, Hailey Ostrom, caused quite a stir with her recent post on Twitter...

Ostrom hits a shot
(Image credit: Instagram: @haileyostrom)

The old saying goes that 'practice makes perfect' and, although you could argue that perhaps this isn't true, one thing that is for sure is that practice can at least improve your golf game.

Hailey Ostrom, who competes professionally on the Cactus Tour as she chases her dream of playing on the LPGA Tour, is certainly an advocate of said statement, with the 27-year-old tweeting: "If you don’t go to a driving range at least once a week and you don’t work on putting (as in actual putting drills) at least twice a week, then you don’t deserve to be mad when you play s****y golf."

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It's safe to say her comments haven't gone down well with some users on the platform, with one stating that: "Some of us don’t have the financials to practice all the time." The reaction caused Ostrom to respond, with the Oregon native firing back: "There are a TON of free ways to practice. Either way you’re missing the point. If you don’t practice, for whatever reason, you don’t deserve to be mad at your game."

Other negative responses included: "Must be nice to have the time to do this. For those who are not professional golfers and don't get their stuff free it's kind of challenging. So yeah we should be able to b***h and complain when we have a s****y round," and "Sadly, some of us live where it snows and is cold in the winter so we don’t have the luxury of practicing 365 days/year. But I used to know everything when I was 28 too."

Others came out in defence of the former George Fox University golfer though, with one comment reading: "I don't think the point was that it's easy to find time to practice. I think the point is that golf is very hard. If you don't practice, you won't be very successful. so you should ease up on yourself, and just enjoy being out of the break from life."

After seeing her replies, Olstrom felt the need to quote retweet her own statement, stating: "The amount of people arguing with me saying they should be allowed to be mad, y’all CHILL. It’s golf! I’m literally telling you to not get mad bc (because) you don’t practice and you’re getting mad at that!? Some of y’all just want to argue. Smh (shaking my head).

Matt Cradock
Staff Writer

Matt joined Golf Monthly in February 2021 covering weekend news, before also transitioning to equipment and testing. After freelancing for Golf Monthly and The PGA for 18 months, he was offered a full-time position at the company in October 2022 and continues to cover weekend news and social media, as well as help look after Golf Monthly’s many buyers’ guides and equipment reviews.


Taking up the game when he was just seven years of age, Matt made it into his county squad just a year later and continues to play the game at a high standard, with a handicap of around 2-4. To date, his best round came in 2016, where he shot a six-under-par 66 having been seven-under through nine holes. He currently plays at Witney Lakes in Oxfordshire and his favourite player is Rory McIlroy, despite nearly being struck by his second shot at the 17th during the 2015 BMW PGA Championship.


Matt’s current What’s In The Bag?

Driver: Honma TW747, 8.75°

Fairway Wood: TaylorMade Rocketballz Stage 2, 15°, 19°

Hybrid: Adams Super Hybrid, 22°

Irons: Mizuno MP54, 5-PW

Wedges: Cleveland 588 RTX 2.0 Tour Satin, 50°, 56°, 60°

Putter: Cleveland TFI 2135 Satin Cero

Ball: Titleist Pro V1x