Golf ball having visible non-spherical insert

1. A golf ball comprising:

a pre-formed selectively-weighted inner core insert comprised of a hub having a specific gravity of greater than 1.2 and a plurality of outer elements connected to the hub and having a specific gravity of less than 0.9;

an outer core molded about the insert to form a sphere having an outer surface; and

a cover disposed around the outer core, the cover having an outer dimpled surface;

wherein the outer core and cover are optically transparent or translucent and wherein the outer core has a first refractive index and the cover has a second refractive index that differs from the first by less than 0.01.

2. The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein the hub has a specific gravity of greater than 1.8 and the outer elements have a specific gravity of less than 0.8.

3. The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein the outer elements are flush with the outer surface of the core.

4. The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein the outer core has a first refractive index and the cover has a second refractive index that differs from the first by at least 0.05.

5. The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein the outer elements extend beyond the outer surface of the core and are flush with the outer dimpled surface.

6. The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein the outer elements are connected to the hub by corresponding rods.

7. The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein the insert comprises a pigment or a dye.

8. The golf ball of claim 7 , wherein the dye is a fluorescent dye comprising a thioxanthene, xanthene, perylene, perylene imide, coumarin, thioindigo, naphthalimide, rhodamine, or methine dye.

9. The golf bail of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the insert, core layer, or cover layer comprise reflective fillers, fibers, flakes, pigments, dyes, or pearlescents.

10. The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein reflective filler comprises metal flakes, iridescent glitters, metallized films, or colored polyester foils.

11. A golf ball comprising:

a pre-formed selectively-weighted inner core insert comprised of a hub having a specific gravity of less than 0.9 and a plurality of outer elements connected to the hub and having a specific gravity of greater than 1.2;

an outer core molded about the insert to form a sphere having an outer surface; and

a cover disposed around the outer core, the cover having an outer dimpled surface;

wherein the outer core and cover are optically transparent or translucent and wherein the outer core has a first refractive index and the cover has a second refractive index that differs from the first by at least 0.05.

12. The golf ball of claim 11 , wherein the hub has a specific gravity of less than 0.8 and the outer elements have a specific gravity of greater than 1.8.

13. The golf ball of claim 12 , wherein the outer elements are flush with the outer surface of the core.

14. The golf ball of claim 11 , wherein the outer elements extend beyond the outer surface of the core and are flush with the outer dimpled surface.

15. The golf ball of claim 11 , wherein the outer core has a first refractive index and the cover has a second refractive index that differs from the first by less than 0.01.

16. The golf ball of claim 11 , wherein the insert comprises a pigment or a dye.

17. The golf ball of claim 11 , wherein at least one of the core layer or cover layer comprises reflective fillers, fibers, flakes, pigments, dyes, or pearlescents.

18. A golf ball comprising:

a pre-formed non-spherical inner core insert;

an outer core molded about the insert to form a sphere having an outer surface; and

a cover disposed about the outer core, the cover having an outer dimpled surface;

wherein the outer core and cover are optically transparent or translucent and are formed from polymers having a refractive index of between 1.45 and 1.6.