Acushnet has sued small ball companies into oblivion in the past.

Acushnet took the initiative in suing Costco this time.

Costco, unlike the small ball companies, have the funds to fight back, Acushnet isn't that big of a company. It's defeinitly a small cap company whereas Costco is definitely a large cap.

Apologies if my post structure was not clear.

The "they" in the first clause of that sentence is referring to Acushnet, not Costco.