Lost golf ball found on the moon

Lost balls are a part of golf that we all have to accept.

Indeed, finding a lost ball from a stray tee shot 30 seconds after you hit it can be hard enough, never mind attempting to track one down from half a century ago...

Lost in space

Astronaut Alan Shepard was the first American to travel into space.

Part of the 1971 Apollo 14 Mission, whilst walking on the moon he decided to hit two golf balls with a makeshift iron (a man after our own heart if there ever was one).

One ball crashed straight into a crater on the surface of the moon, but the other was lost and never found.

Shepard claimed that the ball was lost because it had travelled for 'miles and miles' after he hit it.

Finally found

However, some recently restored photos from the original mission, prove that his golf skills might not have been as brilliant as he thought.

Instead of travelling 'miles', the photos, developed by image specialist Andy Saunders, show that his lost ball had only travelled 40 yards, while the first had gone just 24.

A man, claiming that he can hit a golf ball further than he can... who would have thought?

Either way, we can't think of anywhere more impressive to hit a golf ball than literally being on the moon.

And what an amazing story that a lost ball was found 50 years later!

The photos of the escaped ball will feature in Saunders' upcoming book, 'Apollo Remastered'.