Multi-piece golf balls having a multi-layered solid core and multi-layered cover are provided.

Golf ball incorporating polyurethane mixture having wt. % NCO content of 4-20 and including a prepolymer polyol portion comprised of trans--Farnesene diol(s) in an amount of about 3-70 wt. % of total weight of prepolymer. Trans--Farnesene diol may be 15 carbon, long chain, branched, unsaturated 3,4-vinyl-containing bio-hydrocarbon having the formula:

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Prepolymer can include a 1:99 to 99:1 blend (wt. % ratio) of Trans--Farnesene diol(s) and polybutadiene-based polyol(s) in an amount of about 35-85 wt. %, along with about 15 wt. %-65 wt. % of diisocyanate(s). Curative may be combined with prepolymer in amount of about 3-25 wt. % of total weight of curative and prepolymer combined, and may be mixture of aromatic diamine(s) and white dispersion in a wt. % ratio of about 90:10 to 50:50, plus catalyst. Hardness of polyurethane mixture can be from 75 Shore A to 75 Shore D or a material hardness can be from about 40 Shore D to about 65 Shore D.

A resin composition for golf balls includes specific amounts of (A) polyurethane or polyurea and (B) an oxazoline group-containing acrylic polymer or an oxazoline group-containing styrene polymer. A golf ball having a core encased by a cover of one or more layers, wherein at least one cover layer is formed of this resin composition, exhibits a good adhesion between adjoining layers, enabling the ball to achieve a high scuff resistance without lowering the initial velocity of the ball.

Multi-piece golf balls having a multi-layered solid core and multi-layered cover are provided.

Multi-piece golf balls having a multi-layered solid core and multi-layered cover are provided.

A resin composition for golf balls includes specific amounts of (A) polyurethane or polyurea and (B) an oxazoline group-containing acrylic polymer or an oxazoline group-containing styrene polymer. A golf ball having a core encased by a cover of one or more layers, wherein at least one cover layer is formed of this resin composition, exhibits a good adhesion between adjoining layers, enabling the ball to achieve a high scuff resistance without lowering the initial velocity of the ball.

Golf ball having CoR of at least 0.700 and Atti compression of at least about 50 and comprising layer comprising a mixture of ionomer composition and a plurality of particulates, at least some being surface-treated with alkoxylated siloxanes and/or polyether-modified siloxanes, and selected from titanium dioxide particles, barium sulfate particles, zinc sulfide particles, and/or zinc oxide particulates. At least some particulates may be contacted with compound having the formula:

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Compound (I) may be included in amount of 0.01 to 2% by weight based on total weight of portion of plurality being contacted. The plurality may be included in mixture in amount such that the layer has specific gravity of from 0.5 to about 5.0, tensile strength of from about 300 psi to about 50,000 psi, and elongation at break of from about 20% to about 1000%, each being greater than that of the ionomer composition portion of the mixture.

In a resin composition for golf balls that includes, as a primary ingredient, a polyurethane or polyurea, letting P1 be the absorbance peak height near a wave number of 697 cm.sup.1 and P2 be the absorbance peak height near a wave number of 1512 cm.sup.1 in the infrared absorption spectrum of the composition measured by ATR/FT-IR spectroscopy, the ratio P1/P2 is from 0.03 to 2.10. When used as a cover material in golf balls having a core and a cover of one or more layer, the resin composition keeps the ball from flying too far on approach shots and also gives the ball a good controllability without sacrificing distance on shots with a driver.

Multi-piece golf balls containing a multi-layered core structure are provided. The core structure includes a small, heavy inner core (center) having a relatively high specific gravity, an intermediate core layer, and a surrounding outer core layer. The layers of the core structure may have different hardness gradients. The center of the core comprises a metal material such as copper, steel, brass, tungsten, titanium, aluminum, and alloys thereof dispersed in a thermoset polymeric matrix. The intermediate core layer is preferably formed from a first thermoplastic composition such as an ethylene acid copolymer ionomer resin; and the outer core layer is preferably formed from a second thermoplastic composition. The resulting ball has high resiliency and good spin control.

A golf ball having a single pass image printed on the outer surface having at least one core and a cover layer formed from a cast polyurethane or polyurea. The cover layer defines a first surface area portion of a first color and a second surface area portion of a single pass printed image. The single pass printed image is printed using a UV curable ink and at least one UV pinning operation to pre-cure the UV curable ink before a final UV curing operation.