Callaway Golf Ball Company Gets Expedited Schedule on Appeal to Prevent Vice President from Working for Competitor

Carlsbad, Calif. (PROTEXT) - Callaway Golf Ball Company, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Callaway Golf Company (NYSE: ELY), announced today that the Court of Appeal for the State of California, located in San Diego, has granted its request for expedited treatment of its appeal from a superior court order permitting Mark King to work for competitor Taylor Made-adidas Golf. The Court of Appeal ruled that Callaway Golf Ball Company's appeal is to be completely briefed by January 4, 2000, at which time the Court will consider the merits of the Company's claims. Mr. King, the former Vice President Sales of Callaway Golf Ball Company, breached his employment contract with Callaway Golf Ball Company and joined Taylor Made Golf in August. Callaway Golf Ball sued and obtained a court order against any disclosure of its trade secrets by Mr. King. However, the trial court denied Callaway Golf Ball's request that Mr. King not be permitted to work for a direct competitor in a role where use of his former employer's trade secrets was inevitable. "We are very pleased that the Court of Appeal has recognized the seriousness of our position by expediting our appeal," said Steve McCracken, Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer of Callaway Golf. "This is the first time that the California Appellate Courts have faced this issue. Once the case is fully briefed, we hope to get a very quick hearing and decision from the Court of Appeal." "The issues we have raised in our appeal are very important to every California company with important trade secrets to protect and to all who believe in the sanctity of contracts," added Ely Callaway, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Callaway Golf. "This action by the Court of Appeal emphasizes the importance of this issue." For more information about Callaway Golf Company or Odyssey Golf, please visit the Company's websites at www.callawaygolf.com or www.odysseygolf.com. If you would like to receive Callaway Golf's press releases via e-mail in the future, please send your request to: newslist@callawaygolf.com. ots Original Text Service: Callaway Golf Company Internet: http://www.newsaktuell.de Contact: Ely Callaway, Larry Dorman, or Steve McCracken of Callaway Golf Company, 760-931-1771 Company News On-Call: http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/124825.html or fax, 800-758-5804, ext. 124825 Web site: http://www.odysseygolf.com Web site: http://www.callawaygolf.com Subscribers please note that material bearing the slug "PROTEXT" is not part of CTK's news service and is not to be published under the "CTK" slug. Protext is a commercial service providing distribution of press releases from clients, who are identified in the text of Protext reports and who bear full responsibility for their contents. PROTEXT