What Is The Farthest Golf Ball Ever Hit? [Was It Tiger Woods?]

Every golfer dreams of being able to hit the ball as far as Rory McIlroy or Tiger Woods.

These top professional golfers hit the ball a mile, but are they the longest hitters of the golf ball?

In this article, we’ll have a look at the farthest golf balls ever hit and see who claims the top spot as the longest golf shot of all time.

Ed Welton

Founder, Editor

Ed is the founder and editor at EEE Golf. He’s been playing golf for over 20 years, competing in many top amateur events. He’s played courses all over the world and played with some of the best players in the game. His aim is to help educate people about the game of golf and give insights into the sport he loves most.

Farthest Golf Ball Ever Hit?

Table of Contents

What’s The Longest Golf Drive Recorded?

The record for the longest golf ball ever hit on a golf course is held by Carl Cooper, who hit a 787-yard drive on the 3rd hole at Oak Hills Golf Club in the 1992 Texas Open.

This shot is by far the longest golf shot ever recorded on Earth, but it wasn’t achieved without the ball landing on the cart path and gaining a few big bounces.

The only problem with this was the fact that the hole was only 456 yards long, so Cooper was left with a 300-yard 2nd shot to get back to green.

The longest golf shot ever recorded in professional play without the assistance of some concrete bounces is 515 yards, achieved by 64-year-old Mike Austin at Winterwood Golf Course in Las Vegas, whilst playing in the 1974 US Senior National Open Qualifier.

The 515-yard shot is recognized as the official Guinness world record for the longest golf drive recorded.

What’s even more incredible about this impressive drive is when you look at the type of golf clubs and balls that were being used back in 1974.

Austin had a 43.5-inch steel shafted persimmon driver of old. This compared to the 460cc driver heads and heavier golf balls used by golfers today is an almighty accomplishment.

As a result, Mike Austin’s golf swing is still used by coaches to help students gain distance from the tee.

*The driver is usually the club used to hit the longest drives.*

Tiger Woods still holds the record for the longest drive hit in the 21st century, after his 498 yards tee shot at the 2002 Mercedes Championship on the final hole of the 2nd round.

The shot at Kapalua’s Plantation course was during the height of Woods’s powers, winning 5 times on the PGA Tour in 2002, including two majors and a World Golf Championship.

The nearest challenger to Woods’s long ball came in 2018 at the WGC Matchplay at Austin Country Club, when Dustin Johnson hit a 489-yard tee shot.

Ed’s Thoughts ⛳

As golfers, we all want to hit the ball the farthest in our group or like the guys on the PGA Tour.

But often, it’s far better to play for accuracy rather than trying to hit the cover off the ball on every single drive. Focus on rhythm and timing for better driving from the tee.

Farthest Shot Ever Hit

Although the Guinness Book of World Records holds Mike Austin’s 1974 long drive as the longest drive recorded in a golf event, there have actually been balls hit much further than his 515-yard attempt.

During the Apollo 14 moon visit, Alan Shepard is known to have taken a golf club and golf balls up in the ship and hit them whilst on the moon.

After a few missed shots and shank, the astronaut finally made good contact with the ball and claimed it was in the air for 30 seconds and travelled “miles and miles and miles”, so could be regarded as one of the longest golf drives ever.

Back on Earth, the longest shot not recorded on a golf course was in 1962 on a frozen lake in Antarctica when an Australian meteorologist hit a ball 1.5 miles over the ice.

Final Thoughts

Hitting it far in golf isn’t the be-all and end-all, but it certainly makes it more fun if you can hit it a long way.

The fact that a 64-year-old, using golf clubs from 1974 was able to hit the ball over 500 yards, gives us all hope of one day hitting the ball a long way.

FAQs

What is the farthest golf shot in history?

The farthest golf shot in history was achieved by Carl Cooper in 1992 at the Texas Open when he hit the ball 787 yards from the tee box, with the cart path assisting in adding a few hundred yards in length.

What is the longest tee shot in history?

The longest tee shot in history was hit by Carl Cooper, who managed to reach 787 yards in length with his tee shot, despite the hole only playing 456 yards.