In a golf ball having a core, a cover of at least one layer and a paint film layer formed on a surface of the cover, the paint film layer has an elastic work recovery of at least 60%, the cover layer in contact with the paint film layer has a material hardness on the Shore D scale of at least 55 and, letting M be the elastic work recovery (%) of the paint film layer and N be the material hardness (Shore D hardness) of the cover layer, MN>0. The ball surface is scratch-resistant and has an excellent durability, and the ball has a reduced spin rate on shots with a driver or a long iron, resulting in an increased carry.

The present invention provides golf balls having a non-straight flight trajectory due, at least in part, to a dimple pattern wherein the dimples on the opposing sides of the ball have at least one design feature that is different.

An object of the present disclosure is to provide a golf ball having an increased spin rate when being hit with an 8-iron while suppressing rise in a spin rate when being hit with a driver. The present disclosure provides a golf ball comprising a spherical core having an inner core and an outer core, and a cover positioned outside the spherical core, wherein A?a is 12,200 or less and B?b is 20,400 or more, where a represents an average hardness (Shore C) of a hardness (H2.5) at a point of 2.5 mm from a center of the spherical core and a hardness (H5) at a point of 5 mm from the center of the spherical core, b represents an average hardness (Shore C) of a hardness (H7.5) at a point of 7.5 mm from the center of the spherical core and a hardness (H9) at a point of 9 mm from the center of the spherical core, A represents an impulse difference (kN.Math.?s) between a back spin impulse and a top spin impulse measured using a contact force tester under a condition corresponding to a condition when the golf ball is hit with a driver, and B represents an impulse difference (kN.Math.?s) between a back spin impulse and a top spin impulse measured using a contact force tester under a condition corresponding to a condition when the golf ball is hit with an 8-iron.

An ultra-low compression golf ball is disclosed herein. The core preferably has a PGA compression less than 30. The mantle layer and cover have approximately the same thickness. The cover comprises a thermoplastic polyurethane material and has a specific gravity greater than the core and mantle layer. The golf ball has a PGA compression less than 75 and a COR of at least 0.780.

A golf ball includes plural dimples formed on a surface thereof and plural depressed or protruded portions spaced apart from each other and arranged along an outer periphery of at least one of the plural dimples. The plural depressed or protruded portions each has, as a part of a contour thereof, a shape substantially similar to a part of a contour of the dimple surrounded with the plural depressed or protruded portions. The plural depressed or protruded portions each has a length of more than 1/10 and less than of an outer peripheral length of the dimple surrounded with the plural depressed or protruded portions.

A golf ball 2 includes a large number of dimples 10 on a surface thereof. The surface has a northern hemisphere N and a southern hemisphere S. Each of the hemispheres has a high-latitude region 14, a mid-latitude region 18 and a low-latitude region 16. The high-latitude region 14 has a latitude range of 40 or greater but 90 or less. The mid-latitude region 18 has a latitude range of 20 or greater but less than 40. The low-latitude region 16 has a latitude range of 0 or greater but less than 20. The number of planes that can divide a dimple pattern of the hemisphere so that divided dimple patterns are mirror symmetry to each other is one. Neither a dimple pattern of the high-latitude region 14 nor a dimple pattern of the low-latitude region 16 is rotationally symmetrical.

In a multi-piece solid golf ball having a core, an envelope layer, an intermediate layer, and a cover with a plurality of dimples formed thereon, the core is formed primarily of a base rubber, the envelope layer and the intermediate layer are formed primarily of synthetic resin materials, and the cover layer is formed primarily of a urethane material. The relationships between, respectively, the surface hardnesses of the envelope layer-encased sphere and the ball, the thicknesses of the intermediate layer and the cover layer, the deflections of the core and the ball, and the initial velocities of the core and various layer-encased spheres of the ball each satisfy specific conditions. This golf ball makes it possible for amateur golfers, while maintaining a good distance on shots with a driver (W#1), to obtain a good ball controllability on approach shots and moreover experience a soft feel at impact.

Golf balls having an initial velocity greater than 255 ft/sec and/or an overall distance of greater than 320 yards are disclosed. The golf balls comprise one or more core layers, one or more cover layers, and optionally one or more intermediate layers disposed between the core and the cover. At least one layer is optionally formed from a composition comprising from 2 wt % to 50 wt % of a plasticizer, based on the total weight of the composition.

In a multi-piece solid golf ball having a core, a cover and an intermediate layer therebetween, letting Hc be the JIS-C hardness at the core center, H12 be the JIS-C hardness at a position 12 mm from the core center and Ho be the JIS-C hardness at the core surface, the core has a hardness profile which satisfies the conditions 0H12Hc15, 15HoH1230, (HoH12)(H12Hc)10 and 20HoHc40. Also, letting A be the value represented by (HoH12)(H12Hc), the spin index of the ball, defined as the dynamic coefficient of friction for the ball multiplied by A, is at least 3.0. This golf ball can satisfy at a high level the flight and control performance relied on by professional golfers and skilled amateurs.

An ultra-low compression golf ball is disclosed herein. The core preferably has a PGA compression less than 30. The mantle layer and cover have approximately the same thickness. The cover comprises a thermoplastic polyurethane material and has a specific gravity greater than the core and mantle layer. The golf ball has a PGA compression less than 75 and a COR of at least 0.780.