Golf on the Moon: Alan Shepard's 1971 Six-Iron Shot and the Most Remote Golf Hole Ever Played

The Smuggled Club Head

Alan Shepard had been the first American in space in 1961, spending 15 minutes in a suborbital arc before returning to Earth. By 1971, at age 47, he was the oldest astronaut to walk on the Moon, commanding the Apollo 14 mission. He brought something unusual in his kit: the head of a Wilson Staff six-iron, machined to attach to the handle of a lunar sample collection tool — a two-handed scoop used for collecting Moon rocks.

NASA management was not initially enthusiastic about the plan. Mission planning had been exhaustive and focused on scientific objectives, and unauthorized equipment was a concern. Shepard reportedly negotiated permission by pointing out that the club head weighed very little and the golf element would take only a few seconds during an already-scheduled moonwalk. NASA's public affairs office, recognizing the appeal of a human moment within the highly technical mission, eventually cleared it. Shepard kept the club head hidden until he was already on the lunar surface.

The Shot

Shepard was wearing the bulky EVA suit that all Apollo astronauts used on the surface — a pressurized garment that restricted arm movement significantly. He could not grip the improvised club with two hands as a normal golf swing requires. Instead, operating one-handed, he swung at two golf balls he had also brought along. The first shot was a divot — he struck the lunar soil rather than the ball cleanly. The second was cleaner, and Shepard described it going "miles and miles and miles" into the distance, which was an exaggeration — but the ball did travel significantly further than it would have on Earth.

The reason for the extended flight is physics. The Moon's gravity is approximately one-sixth that of Earth, meaning a ball launched at the same speed and angle travels roughly six times as far before falling to the surface. There is also no air resistance on the Moon — no atmosphere means no drag. Under those conditions, even a one-handed swing in a pressurized suit produces a drive that travels extraordinary distances by earthly standards. Analysis of photographs from the mission estimated the ball traveled approximately 40 yards — modest by golf standards, but the physics suggest a properly struck ball could travel several hundred yards or more.

What Was the Other Sport?

The second sport played on the Moon during the same mission was javelin. Edgar Mitchell, the Apollo 14 lunar module pilot, threw a javelin — a lunar sample collection tool of suitable length — on the surface while Shepard was conducting his golf shots. Mitchell's throw was also affected by lunar gravity and vacuum conditions, traveling further and in a longer arc than it would have on Earth. Neither javelin nor golf has been played on the Moon since.

The choice of sports was partly circumstantial — both improvised tools that happened to serve double duty — but the moment they created was entirely human. In the middle of a highly regimented scientific mission 384,000 kilometers from Earth, two astronauts took thirty seconds to play.

The Lasting Legacy of Two Golf Balls on the Moon

Shepard's golf stunt is often recalled with a mixture of amusement and genuine affection. Critics at the time argued it trivialized a scientifically serious mission. Supporters pointed out that it produced one of the most widely remembered images from the entire Apollo program — a small human figure swinging one-handed at a white ball against the absolute black sky of the lunar surface, dust scattering in the absence of air.

The golf balls and club head remained on the Moon. Lunar surface photographs taken by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter have been analyzed in attempts to locate them, with some researchers believing they can identify the disturbed surface where Shepard's shots were taken. Whether or not the balls are ever formally located, they represent one of the more endearingly absurd artifacts of the space age: the physical evidence that humans, even when doing something that has never been done before, will find a way to squeeze in a round of golf.