Answer & explanation
The ball leaves the club at 171 mph (275 km/h), 10.4 degrees up.
The official answer, with Fermi’s reasoning step by step.
Answer & explanation
Official answer
1,400
yards
How to estimate it
Fermi’s official “Napkin math”
Start with a pro's drive on Earth, about 300 yards. The Moon pulls a sixth as hard, so how much farther does the ball go? It stays up six times as long, so call it six times as far.
- Pro's drive on Earth
- ≈ 300 yd
- A sixth of the gravity
- × 6
- 300 × 6
- ≈ 1,800 yd
Start with a pro's drive on Earth, about 300 meters. The Moon pulls a sixth as hard, so how much farther does the ball go? It stays up six times as long, so call it six times as far.
- Pro's drive on Earth
- ≈ 300 m
- A sixth of the gravity
- × 6
- 300 × 6
- ≈ 1,800 m
Rounded assumptions may give a slightly different estimate. The official answer above is the game’s reference value.
Source calculation & reference
- Average PGA Tour drive (Trackman): 171 mph at 10.4°
- ≈ 76.4 m/s
- No air, so distance = speed² × sin(2 × 10.4°) ÷ lunar gravity
- 76.4² × 0.355 ÷ 1.62
- ≈
- 1,280 m
- In yards
- ≈ 1,400 yd
Reference cited by Fermi: Trackman PGA Tour driver averages (171 mph, 10.4°) · NASA lunar gravity 1.62 m/s²
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