Compositions for golf equipment

1. A golf ball comprising at least one thermoplastic, thermoset, castable, or millable material formed from a composition comprising at least one hydroxy-terminated polyamide, wherein the hydroxy-terminated polyamide is a reaction product of at least one polyamine polyamide or polyamine and at least one cyclic ester or hydroxy acid, or a reaction product of polyacid polyamide and at least one aminoalcohol or polyol amine.

2. The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein the cyclic ester is chosen from β-propiolactone, methyl propiolactone, bis(chloromethyl)propiolactone, β-butyrolactone, γ-butyrolactone, 3-hydroxy-γ-butyrolactone, 4-hydroxy-3-pentenoic acid lactone, hydroxymethyl-butyrolactone, α-angelicalactone, β-angelicalactone, 4-methyl-butyrolactone, γ-methyl-γ-butyrolactone, γ-hexalactone, γ-heptalactone, γ-octalactone, γ-nonalactone, γ-decalactone, γ-undecalactone, 3-methyl-γ-decalactone, γ-dodecalactone, β-valerolactone, γ-valerolactone, γ-hydroxy-valerolactone, mevalonic acid lactone, δ-valerolactone, methyl-δ-valerolactone, trimethoxyvalerolactone, δ-heptalactone, δ-octalactone, δ-nonalactone, δ-decalactone, δ-undecalactone, δ-dodecalactone, δ-tridecalactone, δ-tetradecalactone, ε-caprolactone, ε-caprolactone diol, ε-caprolactone triol, γ-methyl-ε-caprolactone, ε-methyl-ε-caprolactone, β,δ-dimethyl-ε-caprolactone, β-methyl-ε-isopropyl-caprolactone, ε-decalactone, ε-undecalactone, ε-dodecalactone, γ-caprylolactone, γ-ethyl-γ-caprylolactone, ζ-enantholactone, ω-octalactone, ω-nonalactone, ω-decalactone, ω-undecanolactone, ω-laurolactone, ω-tridecalactone, ω-tetradecalactone, (ω-pentadecalactone, ω-hexadecalactone, ω-heptadecalactone, ω-octadecalactone, neptalactone, ambrettolide, 3-butylidenephthalide, 7-decen-1,4-lactone, 9-decen-5-olide, δ-2-decenolactone, δ-7-decenolactone, dihydroactinidiolide, dihydroambrettolide, 3,3-dimethyl-2-hydroxy-4-butanolide, 3,4-dimethyl-5-pentyl-2(5H)-furanone, γ-6-dodecenolactone, dihydrocoumarin, 5-ethyl-3-hydroxy-4-methyl-2(5H)-furanone, 5-(cis-3-hexenyl)dihydro-5-methyl-2(3H)-furanone, 3-hydroxy-4,5-dimethyl-2(5H)-furanone, 5-hydroxy-8-undecenoic acid δ-lactone, jasmolactone, massoia lactone, menthone lactone, β-methyl-γ-octalactone, mintlactone, γ-2-nonenolactone, δ-octadecalactone, 4,4-dibutyl-γ-butyrolactone, 6-hydroxy-3,7-dimethyloctanoic acid lactone, ω-6-hexadecenlactone, 5-hydroxy-2,4-decadienoic acid δ-lactone, octahydrocoumarin, 6-pentyl-α-pyrone, 3-propylidenephthalide, sclareolide, 4-vinyl-γ-valerolactone, 2,3-dimethyl-2,4-nonadien-4-olide, 2-buten-4-olide, 3,4-dimethyl-5-pentylidene-5H-furan-2-one, 3-decen-4-olide, 3-methyl-trans-5-decen-4-olide, 3-nonen-4-olide, α-oxo-β-ethyl-γ-butyrolactone, β-methyl-γ-nonalactone, cis-7-decen-4-olide, 2-hydroxy-3,3-dimethyl-γ-butyrolactone, hexahydro-3,6-dimethyl-2(3H)-benzofuranone, γ-thiobutyrolactone, and mixtures thereof.

3. The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein the hydroxy acid is chosen from benzilic acid, caffeic acid, ferulic acid, gallic acid, gentisic acid, isovanillic acid, mandelic acid, resorcylic acid, salicylic acid, tropic acid, vanillic acid, pamoic acid, malic acid, tartaric acid, citric acid, ascorbic acid, D,L-lactic acid, D-lactic acid, L-lactic acid, glycolic acid, hydroxy-functional amino acids, and mixtures thereof.

4. The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein the aminoalcohol is chosen from alkanolamines, N-(hydroxyhydrocarbyl)amines, hydroxypoly(hydrocarbyloxy)amines, hydroxypoly(hydroxyl-substituted oxyalkylene)amines, monoethanolamine, diethanolamine, diethylethanolamine, ethylethanolamine, monoisopropanolamine, diisopropanolamine, butyldiethanolamine, 2-hydroxyethylhexylamine, 2-hydroxyethyloctylamine, 2-hydroxyethylpentadecylamine, 2-hydroxyethyloleylamine, 2-hydroxyethylsoyamine, 2-hydroxyethoxyethylhexylamine, N,N-(diethanol)ethylene diamines, N-(2-hydroxyethyl)ethylenediamine, N,N′-bis(2-hydroxyethyl)ethylenediamine, 1-(2-hydroxyethyl)piperazine, mono(hydroxypropyl)-substituted tetraethylenepentamine, N-(3-hydroxybutyl)-tetramethylene diamine, N-(2-hydroxyethyl)cyclohexylamine, 3-hydroxycyclopentylamine, parahydroxyaniline, 2-propanol-1,1′-phenylaminobis, N-hydroxyethylpiperazine, 2-aminoethanol, 3-amino-1-propanol, 1-amino-2-propanol, 2-(2-aminoethoxy)ethanol, 2-[2-aminoethyl)amino]ethanol, 2-methylaminoethanol, 2-(ethylamino)ethanol, 2-butylaminoethanol, diethanolamine, 3-[(hydroxyethyl)amino]-1-propanol, diisopropanolamine, bis(hydroxyethyl)-aminoethylamine, bis(hydroxypropyl)-aminoethylamine, bis(hydroxyethyl)-aminopropylamine, bis(hydroxypropyl)-aminopropylamine, hydroxy-functional amino acids, and mixtures thereof.

5. The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein the hydroxy-teminated polyamide has a general structure of:

R 4 and R 5 are independently chosen from linear, branched, and cyclic moieties having 2–60 carbon atoms;

Z is the same or different moieties chosen from —O— and —NH—;

x and y are independent numbers of 1–200; and

i is 2–10.

6. A golf ball comprising at least one thermoplastic, thermoset, castable, or millable material formed from a composition comprising at least one hydroxy-terminated polyamide, wherein the hydroxy-terminated polyamide is polyol polycaprolactam having a generic structure of:

where R 3 is a polymeric chain,

R 4 and R 5 are independently chosen from linear, branched, and cyclic moieties having 2–60 carbon atoms;

Z is the same or different moieties chosen from —O— and —NH—;

x and y are independent number of 1–200; and

i is 2–10.

7. A golf ball comprising at least one thermoplastic, thermoset, castable, or millable material formed from a composition comprising at least one hydroxy-terminated polyamide, wherein the hydroxy-terminated polyamide has a weight average molecular weight of 200–5,000.