Ben Witter "The Legend"

A couple of weeks ago, 5 of us LD'ers met for a 5 man scramble challenge in Green Valley in Nor Cal. It was a very interesting, & fun 3 days watching Danny L. showing off his playing skills, seeing Zuback driving par 4"s, hitting the ball hard harder than I've ever seen before, and once again being totally amazed with Ben Witter!

Many of you newer guys have never had the pleasure of meeting or seeing Ben in action. In a very condensed summary, years ago Ben was an inspiring tour player but was diagnosed with cancer, which put an end to his playing career. In fact he's had to beat it twice and still has managed to excel in everything he does.

I remember going with him to Asia and doing a 7day tour just 2 weeks after his retina detached in one eye, and I wouldn’t say his vision in the good eye was anything to speak of. I would have called him legally blind, but that's when it all came to me, I was looking at a "real" modern day "Batman". The fact that he could do ANYTHING he wanted - physically, with his poor vision was more than amazing. He thrilled 1,000's on that trip, along with myself. Any way, back to Green Valley.

For 2 days the members were in awe watching our group hitting balls on their course in disbelief. Well, let me put it this way. They were impressed with 4 of us and then it went to "disbelief’” with Zuback. This whole time we told them all "just wait until Ben does his thing". And sure enough, as scheduled, for one hour, Ben Witter put on a show that we could not believe was humanly possible. I will go on record saying that no one in the world can do what he does. Now golf isn't the only sport he has excelled in, anything he feels like doing he's great at. What a "butt head". I honestly think that had he focused on some Olympic sports, we'd be looking at a 2 or 3 time Bruce Jenner or Lance Armstrong or maybe a Bo Jackson someone of that nature. Ben recently took up water skiing


Having played 12 years of pro baseball as a catcher (all with the exception of 2 months, in the minor leagues) and with my spotty career in long drive, I consider myself as a "middle of the road" athlete at best. And I guess that having been involved in sports most of my life this subject has always interested me, which brings me to what inspired this letter:

How does a guy beat cancer two times, work a business 12 hours a day, travel doing exhibitions, a father of 5 children, train extensively everyday and still wow people everywhere is goes? And last but not least, is humble with an up-beat and positive attitude that makes me feel like I need to adjust my own priorities.

As painful as this next part is, it will put all of this into prospective. Back to Green Valley.
As Ben finished his exhibition, he shared with the crowd his experience with cancer. Said he had beaten it twice and that was that. What they (we) where looking at was a guy that did some things they didn't think possible and then capped it off with a story about "life's" pit falls, that he dealt with in the most humble way.

Then, as they looked at him, applauding very loud, Mr. Gil Walker walked to the tee box, and told the rest of the story. As of a month prior, Ben had been diagnosed with cancer again, and with all this he still came, performed and brought an optimistic attitude that I will never forget. He has another fight on his hands, which I am convinced he will over come, once again.

Now, I started this thread off with the statement that I think he might be the best all around athlete I've known, and after considering the hand he's been dealt, I take that back, Ben IS the best all around athlete I've ever known. More importantly, he is an example of what we all should strive to be. I hope he doesn't get mad for this but just to give you an example of his great character, here is a just a small portion of an e-mail he recently sent to me...

"To be sure, this is a challenging time in my life, but I've always believed that every challenge we face in life has an equally abundant set of opportunities hidden beneath it.

For me, this recent bout with cancer and financial disaster we're going through has surprisingly brought my family closer together than we've ever been which is probably the greatest blessing I could ever ask for.

Whatever happens to my business will be secondary to my family, so for that, I'm already abundantly thankful."
If you don't know Ben, you do now! Go to his website and get to know him better www.benspowergolf.com.

3 months ago I bought Ben's 4 pack of DVD's and enjoyed every minute of them. They are extremely informative; you will become a better golfer and long driver after watching & applying the lessons learned on these DVD's.

Here is what I propose: you'll be helping yourself and helping Ben out as well. I personally will be buying multiple sets of Ben's "Rip it 300 Yards" DVD 's. As a long driver I will sell them along with equipment sales, give then as donations at exhibitions, Christmas gifts etc...you get the idea.
I challenge you - the long drive community to do the same. Purchase a few sets of Ben's Rip it 300 Yards DVD's. It's a win-win situation. Your game will improve and this will help (in a small way) to off-set the EXUBURANT medical costs Ben is and will be encountering.

I need to make this clear; Ben has no idea that I am reaching out to you guys, to step up to the plate and help support a fellow long driver. Ben has never asked for anything, he wants "no" pity or certainly doesn't want anyone to feel sorry for him. If there is anything negative in your mind with regards to this, direct it to me and only me. I may not be the best writer and I don't always explain things clearly, but I am confident that all of you will understand what I have tried to share.
I am in hopes that all of you will join me in helping Ben and his family, and show the world that we are a unique group of men and women that stand together to help that take care of our own as well as others. Let's help Ben fight the FIGHT.
Call Ben's wife Anne to order directly 717-274-8648. There seems to be some temporary glitches on the on-line order process www.benspowergolf.com

Green Valley Country Club

Dear Green Valley CC,

I would first like to express my gratitude for having been invited to, what I now consider my favorite golf event ever.

I would like to tell you a short story that came to mind right after we flew into the Oakland Airport. Danny and I where driving and started talking baseball when all of a sudden I looked up and saw the ball park where I had spent a brief but memorable 2 months with the Oakland A’s. At that time, I was injured and not on the playing rooster, but it didn’t matter; I was in uniform and in the big leagues. As we drove towards Green Valley, that first day came to mind and this is how it went.

One early afternoon, in Oakland, I headed to the ballpark, 3 hours before I needed to, because like I said, it was my first day in the big leagues and the excitement was overwhelming. It was in 1981; so maybe you would remember the A’s coined phrase “Billy Ball”. That’s correct; my manager was Billy Martin at the time. He made things interesting, I never knew what to expect, good or bad and it certainly kept me on my toes.

Any way, it got better, we were playing the Baltimore Orioles, my brother Rick was catching. After batting practice the media people got Rick and I together for some questions, and photos. What a proud moment for me, standing next to Rick Dempsey, who I considered one of the best catchers ever!

After that, I went to the bullpen and warmed up the starting pitcher for that game and then returned to the dugout. The game started and it didn’t take but one minute until I had 3 coaches yelling at me because I stood up in the middle of a pitch in front of Billy and if that wasn’t enough, then came the 30 second death stare from Billy himself. I slipped through 6 more innings until this, Tom Underwood hit my brother with a pitch and Rick charged the mound. Big team fight, lasted a long time but no one got hurt. Nonetheless, it was a very strange situation to be in.

When the brawl ended, I managed to make it through to the end of the game without anything bad happening. We won the game and when we where in the locker room, Billy was in a good mood so he decided to yell at me for a while with regards to Rick and the fight. He liked Rick, they where “two pea’s in a pod”. Any way, after getting my butt chewed out for a while, I got a shower and headed for a cab. But my day wasn’t over; I exited the stadium through the wrong door and found myself surrounded by 500 fans wanting an autograph. I signed every thing you can imagine, baseballs to beer mugs, even a few body parts (nothing bad), and they had no idea who I was, but I didn’t care. That went on for 2 hours and was a perfect way to end a perfect day!

Now, back to the present, Danny and I were pulling into Green Valley C.C. 28 years later. Much to my surprise, my first day in the big leagues started all over again. From the moment we arrived, 'till the minute we left, the experience was nothing less than perfect.

The course, staff, members and even the house we stayed in, couldn’t have been any better. You treated us like Kings.

Thanks to your “Famous Five Scramble Team” for the opportunity and all the people that came out to watch and support the event. In our opinion, there isn’t a finer group of people than the folks at Green Valley. Also, a big “Thanks” to Gil Walker for all his hard work & effort to make this event a success.

Every person there thanked us for coming, but let me make this clear; the real “thanks” is to all of you, for having us. It will be something we’ll never forget. Thank you for giving me one more day in the “Big Leagues”.

BTW, you’ll never guess by the way I hit the ball at Green Valley that I would have won a big event a week later. It wasn’t only for distance it was also for accuracy. Go figure! It will be on Fox Sports, September 20^th and 27^th. The name of the show is “Big Shots, Titans at the Tee”. It must have been one of the 100 golf tips I got from the members of Green Valley.

With sincerest gratitude,

Pat Dempsey

Getting into Long Drive

If you've been curious about getting into long drive and want more info on what's going on in the world of long drive - you have got to join a free forum called Incepta. Incepta is a long drive community where you can find all the up to the minute info on what the long drive guys are up to, all the current events, equipement, fitness, etc. Equipment manufacturers & long drive champions & veterans participate in the forum and help out "new to long drive" guys. Of course you can always contact me at Horsepowergolf

Celebrities to participate in long-drive golfing

Published in USA Today: In USA Today Big Shots Titans at the Tee

Almost 3 years ago, John Mamoudis, owner of Horsepower Tee Shot Tour, called me and said - "I have this idea... to bring Long Drive to the masses" and that idea is now a reality. Fox Sports Network has picked up the event "Big Shots" Titans at the Tee. The celebrity studded event will take place next week June 22 and 23rd and will air on Sept. 20th & 27th immediately after FOX' NFL broadcasts.

The celebrities are:
Football greats: Marcus Allen, Lawarence Tayor, Erice Dickerson, Joe Theisman, John McMahon

Baseball heros: Richard "Goose" Gossage, Jim Rice,

Film & TV: Mark Wahlberg, Chris Rose

I wonder which celebrity I will be paird up with? Needless to say, I am very excited & honored to be a part of this project.

My hats off to John Mamoudis - he's a do-er not a talker!

UST Mamiya Wins at Colonial

FORT WORTH, Texas - As much as last week's win at the Byron Nelson was an impressive display of power and accuracy, this week was all about precise shot making from both the tee and fairway. And, this year's champion of the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial trusted a UST Mamiya Proforce V2 86g extra-stiff flex shaft in his Titleist driver and Proforce V2 96g extra-stiff flex shaft in his Titleist fairway wood to deliver superior consistency and accuracy to shoot back-to-back 63s on a fabled course known for its demand on well-positioned tee shots and approaches.

"At Colonial, with its tree-lined fairways, there is a premium on driving accuracy," said Jim McIntosh, director of tour operations for UST Mamiya. "Since being named the PGATour's Comeback Player of the Year consecutive years and truly turning his game around to become a top player on tour, this year's champion has used the heavier-weight Proforce V2 to better feel the position of the club during the swing thus maximizing control. It has been a focus on optimizing spin and control, and the confidence to hit more fairways."

The shot-enhancing benefits and low-torque characteristics of the Proforce V2 have received industry acclaim for optimizing performance of today's oversized driver heads. The modern trend toward larger driver and fairway wood heads has increased hit-ability for many golfers, but the center of gravity (CG) of most larger clubheads is positioned further away from the center line of the shaft, a design trait which places more stress and causes more twisting on the shaft. The V2's low torque design provides the power and control needed for today's larger clubheads. Also, because the low-torque V2 prevents clubheads from twisting open on impact, the V2 reduces the amount of back spin imparted onto the ball and tightens shot dispersion.

AXIV technology in the new Proforce AXIVCore Series (played by winner of 2009 Byron Nelson) is a UST Mamiya exclusive, proprietary process of weaving specific high-modulus carbon fibers in the critical four axis directions necessary in shaft design to optimize stiffness, hoop strength, and torsional resistance, all in a single ply. The AXIV material resists deformation allowing the shaft to maintain consistent symmetry. The Proforce AXIVCore Series feature Blue, Tour Black, Tour Red models, and are now available in multiple weights and flexes to fit various swing profiles. The Blue is for the player seeking additional spin for longer carry distance, while the Tour Black is for the player seeking high launch, low spin and more ball speed. The Tour Red is for those players needing a very stable shaft that produces a penetrating ball flight with low spin. These counter-balanced models also reduce club heft to help players generate more clubhead speed for more ball speed resulting in longer drives.

High performance UST Mamiya graphite shafts are trusted by some of the world's top players, including UST Mamiya staff players Stewart Cink, Davis Love III and Rod Pampling.

Horsepower Golf is offering Free Ground Shipping on a custom Built TaylorMade Tour Burner Driver. Supplies limited Offer ends June 9th

Call 818.951.4214 or 818.353.6717

ELD European Open & JLG Continents Cup '09

This years ELD European Open and JLG Continents Cup will be held at the PGA's KLM Open.
During this event we will have the best, biggest and with 30 to 40 thousand visitors each day, the most visited and watched longdrive event in the history of the sport.
In the ELD European Open is already a minimum prize money of 30,000 Euro. (43,000 USD)

On Saturday the 6 best American longdrivers will compete against the 6 best European longdrivers for the honer of there continent in the 2th JLG Continents Cup.
The Europeans will be on the top of there game as the Americans have taken home the JLG Continents Cup in 2008.

With an professional international organization crew, amongst others Pat Dempsey, this event is bound to top everything ever seen in Europe.

For more information and about how to register for these great events, Please email us at info@longdrivers.eu
www.longdrivers.eu