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Did you know that not all sports are played on Earth? To be more precise, there’s this one sport that was NOT PLAYED on our planet. Dare to guess which sport we’re referring to? If you’re not willing to take a chance with guessing, we’re going to tell you either way. It’s something you would never see coming, and it happened during the Apollo 14 mission, over 50 years ago!
Golf Played on the Moon
If you’re a fan of betting, and you took a chance guessing the sport, you would’ve won if your answer was “golf”. Yep, Alan Shepard, a NASA astronaut, took the opportunity after the Moon landing to swing a six-iron golf cross on the dusty surface of Earth’s natural satellite.
And while most amateur or professional golf players do their best to avoid sand traps. However, that wasn’t an option for Alan. On the 6th of February 1971, he took two golf shots on the lunar surface. He described the second one as going “miles and mile”, as recorded on a camera that day.
However, the United States Golf Association took the time to analyze the math behind his shot. Using the data from the Apollo crew and some more recent moon mission telemetry, they estimated that the first ball only traveled 22 meters, while the second one only got to around 37 meters before stopping.
For comparison, the average amateur male golfer back on earth can hit a ball around 198 meters, while a female golfer makes the ball travel 135 meters. It’s one of those statistics you can find very useful if you’re planning to bet on golf tournaments on 1xBet.
Not Your Casual Sunday Golf Course
In Shepard’s defense, he had a few more obstacles to overcome compared to an amateur golfer on a green lawn. For starters, he was wearing the notoriously stiff spacesuit that saw him swing with one arm since bringing his hands together for the classical golf posture wasn’t possible.
Then you have to take into consideration the modified golf club he used. It had the head attached to the end, which also made it different from what the astronaut used back on Earth. Even so, to be able to play golf on the Moon in the 70s was a huge achievement for mankind.
And with new moon trips planned for the near future with lighter, more flexible spacesuits, the next astronauts can have a shot at taking Shepard’s record down. They’ll probably have a lot more mobility, but we’ll have to wait and see.
The Golf Club Donate to the USGA Museum
Such a distinct reminder of NASA’s moon landing back in 1971 made a great trophy for Shepard. Since the rules for allowing astronauts to keep space artifacts were different back then, he was able to hold on to the club up until 1974. He then decided to donate it to the USGA Museum in Liberty Corner, New Jersey.
It goes without saying that the lunar club is the most popular exhibit in the museum, and Shepard’s idea helped make golf even more popular in the US as well as worldwide. Nowadays, there are plenty of golf tournaments to enjoy.
If you’re a big fan of the sport, and you want to support your favorite players through online bets, 1xBet offers you high odds and diverse betting markets all the time. So, enjoy your favorite sport and win big with a reliable bookmaker!
