Uihlein: "We can't argue that we have the best interest in the game. We can make that argument, but the fact is we represent the commercial landscape."
/Courtesy of AP's Doug Ferguson, more of the kinder, gentler Acushnet CEO Wally Uihlein talking about the relationship between rulemakers and manufacturers.
The debate between tradition and technology has been around more than a century, and that is not likely to change. Uihlein said he can make an argument "for or against bifurcation" – different equipment rules for pros and amateurs – although that should not be an agenda that any manufacturer could promote.
"We still have a commercial genesis to that thought process," he said. "We can't argue that we have the best interest in the game. We can make that argument, but the fact is we represent the commercial landscape. And so, it doesn't matter how noble our argument is. It's still going to be seen as to some degree commercially prejudiced."
Uihlein said it's up to the R&A and the USGA to not only set the rules, but to assume greater responsibility in the game's future.
"If not, who does?" he said. "There's always going to be that question of whose game is it, and who's responsible for its perpetuation and sustenance."