The most important shot in golf is the next one- Ben Hogan
This was not the case for Alan Shepard, the most important shot for him was the first one because he was hitting the ball on the moon, in outer space. After the Apollo 14 landing, he tried playing some gold on the sand dune of moons. He was the first person to hit a golf ball on the moon. Which is as crazy as it sounds. On Feb 6, 1971, from the lunar surface, he hit the ball two times in a row, calling the second ball to go miles and miles.
These ‘Miles and miles’ started a lot of controversies, according to the United States Golf Association (USGA), he was clearly exaggerating because due to the lack of air pressure and gravity the ball traveled merely some yards which are not miles and miles. It was something that went completely viral and it’s still regarded as the most memorable moment in outer space. Alan used his makeshift club and two golf balls to create a sensation in the world.
Although his claim that it went miles and miles was useless because the ball didn’t go beyond 40 yards. A Lot of scientists, golf clubs, and astronauts have researched this and they get the same answer every time that the hits were successful but not as successful as they would have been on the surface of the world.
There was one other claim that Alan was making, he said that he hit the ball so hard that it went out of the moon altogether. Which is theoretically impossible. The gravity of the moon is lesser than the heart but still, its presence is there. And the escape velocity of the moon is 5,310 miles per hour, if the ball had to be thrown out of the moon it had to be thrown with at least this velocity which is not possible by a human being. So the ball must be traveling some miles up but it couldn’t be leaving the moon altogether.
We have a lot of missions going to the moon and outer space nowadays but back in 1971, it was the first mission, and playing golf on that mission was something that was broadcasted worldwide. The ball traveled miles and miles or not but this story really did.
