Acushnet Company Responds to USGA Equipment Standards Announcement.

FAIRHAVEN, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 5, 1998--In response to the United States Golf Association's announcement of November 2, 1998 that it intends to implement additional regulations for golf balls and clubs, Wally Uihlein, President and Chief Executive Officer of Acushnet Company, which is comprised of Titleist and FootJoy Worldwide and Cobra Golf Incorporated, cited several areas of concern with the new rulings.

"We are extremely disappointed that the USGA has chosen to move forward with a golf club test protocol that is both unnecessary and unhealthy for the game of golf," commented Uihlein. "We are also very disconcerted to learn that the USGA is traveling down a similar path with regard to potential changes in the rules and procedures as they relate to golf ball testing, once again without any real opportunity for manufacturers to participate in the process. It appears as if the USGA is much farther downfield on revising the overall distance standard rule and test protocol than we, the manufacturers, and the more than 700,000 golfers in the United States that comprise the USGA membership, have been led to believe."

"While we recognize the USGA as the rule-making authority for golf in the United States, we continue to disagree with the need for further equipment regulations and the process by which the USGA develops and implements its regulations," Uihlein continued. "Although the USGA claims it is only clarifying existing rules, it is in fact more concerned with creating new rules and in the process is limiting the enjoyment of the game for millions of golfers."

Uihlein identified three specific areas of concern regarding the USGA's actions on both the golf club and golf ball that continue to raise serious questions:

1) No harm identified. Exactly what is the USGA protecting by its

actions? The USGA has yet to identify any harm to the game of golf

caused by technology;

2) Absence of due process. The USGA has refused to openly discuss its

actions and has failed to provide the manufacturing community

timely and necessary information, nor a fair opportunity to

properly evaluate and discuss the test protocol prior to

implementation; and

3) No correlation to real world conditions. The information the USGA

has provided regarding its golf club and golf ball rule making

shows that the USGA is moving away from what happens on the golf

course to what happens in the testing laboratories, which does not

correlate to the game as it is played.

"As we have previously stated, we feel that the recent actions by the USGA in the areas of equipment and equipment testing are politically motivated by a very small minority within the USGA and influential people outside the USGA who continue to use the pretense of defending the game's traditions to advance their own agendas," concluded Uihlein. "We will review the final protocol as implemented on November 2 by the USGA and will withhold any additional comments pending completion of that evaluation."

The Acushnet Company's presentation on "spring-like effect" at the USGA meeting of September 28, and Wally Uihlein's keynote speech to the World Scientific Congress of Golf entitled Tradition and Technology: Preserving the Balance, may be accessed by visiting us online at www.titleist.com, www.footjoy.com and www.cobragolf.com.

Titleist and FootJoy Worldwide and Cobra Golf Incorporated comprise the Acushnet Company, an operating company of Fortune Brands, Inc. (NYSE - FO).