TIH: A NASA Astronaut Plays Golf on the Moon

It was 52 years ago.

In 1971, for some reason, astronaut Alan Shepard hit the first golf ball on the moon. He used a six-iron, and the ball flew about 300 yards – not “miles and miles” as Shepard exclaimed after his third attempt.

The PGA Tour released a video many years back about how the most famous golf swing of all time came to be. Naturally, when ANYTHING happens on the moon, there’s quite the process to get it done.

Shepard had to really fight to get the approval needed, which he eventually begrudgingly received. Then, he had to find a club! He couldn’t just bring an extra six-iron with him, so he had a custom one build by a golf pro before the journey, it was really just the head of a six-iron that could be affixed to a handle they already had aboard.

Shepard’s space suit was a bit too stiff to grip the club in a traditional way. After practicing in the space ship, he went with a one-handed approach. He shanked the first try. And, since the lunar surface is very much like a sandtrap, he used the dust to tee the ball up a bit (who hasn’t done that?!) before he let it fly.

It was a really fun moment in history, and I hope you enjoy the video!