February 6, 1971

Posted on February 6, 2016 by Joel Byers

On This Date in TWISTED-HISTORY.com! in 1971 NASA Astronaut Alan B. Shepard used a six-iron that he had brought inside his spacecraft and swung at two golf balls on the surface of the moon. He shanked the first one and asked for a mulligan. Fellow Astronauts Roosa and Mitchell both insisted that he had to take the required two stroke penalty which he begrudgingly did before swinging at the second ball. He connected on that ball and it is estimated that it flew over 1 mile before landing. Since he was unable to recover, or even find where it landed, Roosa and Mitchell made him take another two-stroke penalty for losing his ball. One bit of good news for Shepard is that he is now recognized as holding the unofficial record for longest drive in human history with his second shot going over 1,760 yards, beating Mike Austin’s 515 yard drive in 1974. Mike does not recognize Mr. Shepard’s drive as Mike hit his on Earth with a higher gravity and air resistance.

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About Joel Byers

Born in North Georgia and educated at some very fine public institutions. Real education started after graduating from college and then getting married and raising two boys. Has the ability to see the funny and absurd in most things and will always remark on it, even if it means getting the stink-eye from his victims.
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