A golf ball with a core comprising polybutadiene and graphene with an embedded IC is disclosed herein. The golf ball preferably has a single core comprising polybutadiene and graphene. Alternatively, the golf ball has a dual core with an inner core comprising polybutadiene and graphene. Alternatively, the golf ball has a dual core with an outer core comprising polybutadiene and graphene.

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: ##STR00001## 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.

In a multi-piece solid golf ball having a core, an intermediate layer and a cover, the cover is formed primarily of a polyurethane material, the ball has a higher surface hardness on the Shore C hardness scale than the sphere obtained by encasing the core with the intermediate layer (intermediate layer-encased sphere), and the ball has a deflection of at least 3.6 mm when compressed under a final load of 1,275 N (130 kgf) from an initial load of 98 N (10 kgf). The golf ball has an excellent flight performance when hit by golfers whose head speeds are not very fast and moreover has a good, soft feel at impact, making it suitable for use by amateur golfers.

In a multi-piece solid golf ball having a core formed of a rubber composition, an intermediate layer formed of a polyurethane material and a cover, the ball satisfies the following condition: surface hardness of ballsurface hardness of intermediate layer-encased sphere. When the ball is struck with a driver at a head speed of 40 m/s, the sum of the time t1 required from contact initiation between the driver and ball for deformation of the ball to reach a maximum value and the time t2 required from the state of maximum ball deformation for the ball and driver clubface to separate is at least 705 microseconds. This ball has an excellent flight performance when hit by low or moderate head-speed golfers, is receptive to spin on approach shots and has a good, soft feel at impact.

Golf balls having a multi-layered core made of a foamed composition are provided. The core preferably has a foam inner core (center) and surrounding thermoset or thermoplastic outer core layer. Preferably, a polyurethane foam composition is used to form the foam center. The foam inner core preferably includes a fully-foamed center region and a partially or completely-collapsed foam outer region. The hardness of the fully-foamed region is different than the hardness of the collapsed foam region. Non-foamed thermoset or thermoplastic materials such as polybutadiene rubbers or ethylene acid copolymer ionomer may be used to form the outer core layer. The ball further includes a cover that may be multi-layered. The foam cores have good resiliency.

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

In order to satisfy at a high level the golf ball flight and control performances relied on by professional golfers and skilled amateurs, this invention provides a multi-piece solid golf ball G having a core 1, a cover 3 and an intermediate layer 2 therebetween wherein the core is formed of a rubber composition that includes an alcohol having a value obtained by dividing the molecular weight of the alcohol by the number of hydroxyl groups thereon which is 70 or less. Also, letting Hc be the JIS-C hardness at the center of the core, H12 be the JIS-C hardness at a position 12 nun from the core center and Ho be the JIS-C hardness at the surface of the core, the core has a hardness profile in which these hardnesses satisfy fixed relationships defined by specific formulas.

A multi-piece solid golf ball having a two-layer core with an inner core layer and an outer core layer and having a cover of at least two layers including an intermediate layer and an outer layer with numerous dimples on the surface is characterized in that the hardest cover layer has a specific material hardness and the ball has a specific value obtained by subtracting the surface hardness of the overall core from the surface hardness of the hardest cover layer, a specific deflection, and a specific value obtained by subtracting the initial velocity of the inner core layer from the initial velocity of the sphere consisting of the inner core layer encased by the outer core layer. This golf ball enables relatively low head speed golfers to achieve a good distance on full shots with drivers and iron clubs and also provides a soft, comfortable feel at impact.

Golf ball incorporating layer(s) of a mixture consisting of: i) ionomer(s); ii) ethylene propylene rubber(s)(EPR(s)); iii) polymeric epoxy crosslinker(s); and iv) compatibilizing polymer(s). The ionomer(s) and EPR(s) may be included in a blend in a wt % ratio of from about 85:15 to 55:45; the at least one polymeric epoxy crosslinker and compatibilizing polymer may be included in amounts, based on 100 parts of the blend, of from about 2.0 to about 10.0 parts; and from about 1.0 to about 10.0 parts, respectively. Each ionomer, EPR, polymeric epoxy crosslinker, and compatibilizing polymer has a density less than 1.0 g/cm.sup.3. The mixture is melt processable/moldable without meanwhile sacrificing target CoR, DCM compression, Shore D hardness, and Shore C hardness.

In a multi-piece solid golf ball having a core, a cover and an intermediate layer therebetween, the core, an intermediate layer-encased sphere and the ball have surface hardnesses which satisfy a specific relationship, and the intermediate layer and the cover have thicknesses which satisfy a specific relationship. Also, the core has a hardness profile in which the hardnesses at the core surface, core center, a position 5 mm from the core center, and a position midway between the surface and center of the core satisfy specific relationships. This golf ball, when used by mid- and high-level amateurs, enables the golfer to maintain an adequate distance on shots with a driver and achieve a good distance on iron shots, has a good spin performance on approach shots and has a good feel on impact. In addition, the ball has an excellent scuff resistance when struck with a grooved wedge.