GOLF ON THE MOON

WASHINGTON, Feb. 5 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Following is the daily "Profile America" feature for Feb. 6 from the U.S. Census Bureau:

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 6: GOLF ON THE MOON

Profile America -- Friday, February 6th. Occasionally, when someone hits a tremendous golf shot, a partner will exclaim "out of this world!" The first and only golf shots really made out of this world occurred on this day in 1971. Astronaut Alan Shepard brought a six-iron he had stashed away aboard his Apollo spacecraft down to the surface of the moon and swung at three golf balls. He whiffed the first swing, but considering the bulkiness of his spacesuit, his others resulted in good shots. None of them went into orbit, however. Here on earth, nearly 27 million people play golf every year, making the rounds on some 15,500 courses, about two-thirds of them open to the public. You can find these and more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau on the Web at http://www.census.gov

Now you know.