Astronomy/golf question: Longest shot off the tee?

Factual Questions
1

Well, not necessarily. I mean, I don’t consider likely that Alan Shepard brought a tee for his famous drive on that most distant of golf courses, the moon, our closest neighbor in space and obedient offspring.

My question is simple, could that shot be considered as the longest drive ever?

From one standpoint, the reduced lunar gravity and the non-existent wind resistance would reduce the constraining factors acting to impede a prolonged flight of the ball.

On the other hand, the reduced gravitational force exerted on Shepard will diminish the force of his swing and hence provide a lesser impulse on the ball.

Taking into consideration these physical phenomena, could an educated, yet likely crude, estimate of the distance traveled by the ball be generated? Or, more pragmatically, has Shepard provided a rough estimate of the suspected length traversed by the dimpled little ball?

Chronos, Phobos, Dopers in general, Could you please tackle this one?

2

I don’t know if anyone actually measured, but the ball didn’t go that far, and I think the average golfer could easily outdistance that shot.

Shepard was hitting one handed with a club that was actually a real club head machined to be able to be screwed on to some moon scooping tool.

3

I would imagine that once of the conditions of it being a record would be for it to be duplicatable by anyone, without a billion dollars…
The average person cannot go to the moon to hit a gold ball, and thus the distance, no matter how far, would not be official.

That’s what I think anyway.

Of course, if the record were to specifically say “on the moon” as part of it’s condition, then sure, it could be a record.
Just calling it the longest drive without any moon stipulation would be unfair. An astronaut could go to the moon and break a lot of other records too, that noone on earth could ever have a hope of breaking again.

4

Your average golfer, in regular clothes, could certainly hit the longest-ever tee shot if he were on the moon. Not only the low gravity but the absence of atmosphere would make it easy.

Unfortunately, having to wear that darned space suit (moon suit?) is going to negate any advantage he has. Those things are darned hard to get around in. He would be luck to outdistance one of my famous tee shots (also known as “worm-burners”).

In short, gravity giveth but the spacesuit taketh away.

5

well I don’t think that less gravity would have anything to do with how hard you swing. The distance of the ball is more dertermined on how hard you can “snap” your hands over, NOT how hard you swing. As for hitting one handed I’ve seen my golf instructor hit balls one handed all the time and he can get some good distance off of them so even one handed you can hit a ball pretty good. MY instructor was trying to show someone who had a stroke how he could hit the ball with only one hand.

Just for the record, IIRC the longest drive in a PGA event was something like 800 yards, the guy ended up hitting a cart path and it followed that. He ended up farther away after the drive than he started! normally the “trick” shots can be hit like 400 yards, but they use special clubs.

6

The record for the longest tee shot ever is actually on Earth. It was hit around 2 miles, in Antarctica, where the ball just kept bouncing and rolling on the hard ice. The moon shot was nowhere near that.

7

I don’t know what the world record is, but at the 1999 RE/MAX World Long Drive Championships the winner hit the ball 376 yards, 2 feet, 9.5 inches. I would guess that the world record is no more than

That is VERY long, unless the ground was sloped steeply downhill, 800 yards is not possible (and I can get more than that just by dropping my ball into the Grand Canyon).

8

I recall reading that the moon shot (so to speak) was estimated at about 1/5 of a mile, which equates to 350 yards. Above average for a pro (on Earth), if the statistics are to be believed, but most pros can crank out extra distance when they want to, and they only measure driving distance on two holes per round.

Anywho, I don’t know that Antartica was the location of the longest drive; I seem to recall it was at an airport runway in Michigan or somewhere, in the dead of winter.

Of course, that guy in the Pinnacle ad hit a ball from Hawaii to Japan…

9

ha… I heard about that, I always wondered if it was an urban legend. Of course variations of this theme are common, like the bet in the movie Tin Cup, where one guy hits it straight down the highway and it keeps bouncing along the road for miles…
But of course, the real criterion is distance in the air. I bet Shepard holds that record. ISTR that Shepard said the ball just went up and up until he couldn’t see it anymore, but I don’t know if he ever gave an estimate of the distance. These guys were pilots and trained to be able to observe distances accurately, but no matter what he said, nobody would believe him.

10

Ignoring, of course, the nitpick that there’s no air on the moon.

11

As dtilque correctly stated, there is no way that Shepard could hold that record simply because the moon’s weak gravitational field doesn’t allow it to hold an atmosphere and hence there is no air, make that not gaseous envelope, through which the ball could traverse.

Aside from that technicality, I suspect that Shepard’s claim has some validity and even though he might have exaggerated a bit, he is a scientist first and foremost and thus he should always seek the truth, irregardless of any personal agenda he might have. It is also important that, as you correctly mentioned, his military background makes him a qualified observer, a reliable source whose estimations, albeit subjective, are to be given their due credit.

Lance:
Thanks for the comments on the club assemblage. Now that you mention it, I seem to recall that Shepard had hidden the club somewhere since he did not have the corresponding Nasa approval to perform the moon shot. Wonder where does the term space cowboy could have originated? :rolleyes:

Chas.E:

I guess Don Johnson could claim the honor of hitting the longest golf shot in movie history.

As far as women are concerned, the winner hands down is Anika Sorenstam, who hit a ball from the States to Sweden in a TV spot.

Now, to the serious stuff:

What Pluto said about the spacesuit providing an obstacle which could obstruct the swinging process makes good sense.

Another relevant point, mentioned by Edward The Head, claims that what matters most towards achieving good distance off the tee is the force applied by the snap of the wrists and not so much the strength of the swing. It will be interesting to get more feedback like this from weekend golfers who are familiarized with the artistry of swinging a golf club and the forces involved in the process.

It would also be valuable for the discussion to focus more on the scientific standpoint; perhaps a knowledgeable doper could try to tackle the specific physics affecting a lunar golf shot.

It is still to be settled whether the “Antarctica” shot is a UL or not. We have yet to establish the validity of that purported location, since the voice of dissent provided by Johnson arouses suspicion about the validity of that statement. BTW, Johnson, do you have a cite on the estimated 350 yards traveled by Shepard’s shot?

Wrapping up this post, I appreciate the input generated so far. It has been not only enlightening but entertaining. Keep those opinions coming, dopers!

12

I believe that Shepard made two shots: The first, he didn’t hit squarely, and it only went a few yards. The second, however, he got a goot hit, and said that it appeared to go for “miles and miles”-- That’s the most precise estimate I’ve ever heard attributed to him.

The physics of this is very straightforward, and I could tell you exactly how far it went… if I knew the initial speed and angle. Unfortunately, I haven’t a clue how to estimate the speed and angle which would be produced by a golfer swinging one-handed with an improvised club in a bulky pressure suit. The easiest way to determine this, short of returning to the Moon, would be to have a golfer on Earth similarly attired and equipped make a number of similar shots, and measeure the velocity at the moment of impact, before air resistance had a chance to become significant.

13

I’ve been looking for an estimate of the distance Shephard’s shot went. I found a few, but none that listed a source for the estimate. They do seem to be in agreement that the shot was in the 300-350 yd range, which is not the longest drive ever by anyone’s reckoning. However, Shephard didn’t hit off a tee and was using a 6 iron. So he may have hit the longest 6 iron ever.

I sent inquiring e-mails to NASA and JPL. I wonder if they’ll bother to respond.

14

…and so much for the search for truth by scientists.

Here’s what I think would have to be considered an authoritative answer. It appears we were all way off, myself included.

Case closed.

Still working on the Antartica issue.

15

Also still working on the Antarctica issue.

Great way to hit 100.

16

[QUOTE]
[
It will be interesting to get more feedback like this from weekend golfers who are familiarized with the artistry of swinging a golf club and the forces involved in the process.
Quasar,

As a pretty avid amatuer golfer (note: “amatuer” does not equal “good”), the key to hitting a long drive is all clubhead speed. Tiger Woods gets about 125 mph on his driver, most good amatuers are in the 90s. The key to clubhead speed is , well books have been written on that, but arm extension , shoulder turn, flexibility, and strength are the main points. If you’ve ever sen Tiger in slo-mo, his shoulders are rotated about 90º further than his waist. This coil is where he gets that club speed. A longer shaft on the driver also helps due to more torque. Of note here is that most pros only swing about 75-80% of full power. They are far more concerned with accuracy than distance.

The current long-drive champion is Jason Zuback (sp?), the guy hitting the Pinnacle from the Eiffel tower. He gets club speed into the 150+ mph range and uses a driver with a 54" shaft (standard is 48"). He routinely hits 400 yd drives, and IIRC, his best is a tad over 500. Another guy is Hank Keuhne (sp?), who is about the longest hitter on the PGA tour. At the Masters 2 years ago, he was hitting balls over the net at the far end of the driving range, 300 yds away. The net is ~60 ft high, and he was using a 3-wood :eek

17

Well, I’m guessing the question as to the longest golf drive will not be definitively answered, except to say it most certainly was not Shephard. This site tells of a 10,500 foot drive:

I’d think the ball would have to be found to qualify, and who knows if this one was…

18

This is what I heard too.

(ahem) I’m sure he did. :smiley: