In light of recent events at the ISS, I was reminded of Al Shepard’s famous shot on the Moon. In those days, the astronauts were very careful to avoid commercial advertisement, and supposedly Mr. Shepard never divulged the brand, and sadly he is gone now. Anyone got the straight dope on this? I vote for Top Flite, but who knows.
I think he used a stolen range ball.
You know, one of those with the silly red stripe around it…
As recently as 1998, a newspaper story said that neither he nor NASA ever told, but that the three balls taken into space were “special and heat-resistant.”
Well, I wondered about that, too. The temperature extremes, night and day, direct unfiltered sunlight - maybe the golf ball has disintegrated by now into the lunar soil… It might not make it on to eBay after all…
Here’s a recent thread on the topic.
From an article in the Philadelphia Inquirer from a few months ago (which unfortunately doesn’t appear to be online any more):
What manufacturer claimed that I wonder, at least.
I believe the three major US ball manufacturers at the time were Spalding, Wilson, and Acushnet.
Pick one.
I wasn’t aware of any overt claims by a particular manufacturer, perhaps in a print or TV ad, that would be interesting, rather than just speculation.