LEBANON, Pa. - There are long test drives, and there are long test drives.

Ben Witter didn't take advantage of dealership goodwill by driving his mother-in-law back to Florida. No, he picked up the new Model 82 driver from Henry-Griffitts last summer and promptly took the long-drive circuit by storm, winning events in Atlanta (373 yards) and Boston (339).

"I've tested 400 different driver heads over the past two years," says Witter, 38, an HG-Certified Teacher and owner/director of instruction at Ben's Power Golf Learning Center in Lebanon, Pa. "I've gotten to know the feel of a good head and a bad head, and this Model 82 is absolutely fantastic. The two-piece construction just makes for a real rewarding head to hit. Heck, you can hear it; you can feel it.

"I do a lot of testing here. Clubs come in and I get a bunch of my long-driving buddies together and we hit them all afternoon, compiling data. The Model 82 beats everyone like a drum, no problem. It's the longest head out there."

Witter has also enjoyed excellent results selling the Model 82 from his shop: "I've had a good season with this driver. Once it's in peoples' hands, they want it... I've been with Henry-Griffitts for a decade and this is the best driver they've come up with, by far. It's not even close. It's like all these years they've been making horse and buggies, and now they're making Ferraris."

Though he's still a top-10 performer on the national long-drive tour, Witter, at 38, admits he's a bit past his prime in a sport dominated by the young and strong. Yet the Model 82 has been a fountain of youth for him this summer.

"The only reason this driver hasn't taken the long-drive world completely by storm is that it comes in only one loft: 10 degrees. If they could get it down to 6, it would be the dominant head on the long drive tour."

Added shaft length increases effective loft: A 4-degree driver head combined with a 50-inch shaft, for example, produces the same ball flight as a 10-degree head with a 46-inch shaft. Consequently, Witter's 50-inch shaft combined with the Model 82's standard 10-degree head isn't so effective into the wind.

"But downwind I can fly that thing 350 to 370," he attests. "I'm trying to get HG to make it in a 4-degree, but they're not gonna sell many of those!"

That's right, Ben. In fact, Henry-Griffitts is going the other way: It now offers the Model 82 in 13- and 16-degree models.