Method of treating rubber composition with cure inhibitor to create soft skin in golf ball core

1. A method of making a golf ball comprising the steps of:

providing a preform comprising an uncured polybutadiene composition;

coating the uncured preform with a cure-altering material comprising a hydroquinone compound, a benzoquinone compound, a resorcinol compound, or a quinhydrone compound;

curing the coated uncured preform at a predetermined temperature to form a single, unitary crosslinked golf ball core having an outer surface having a first hardness and a geometric center having a second hardness greater than the first to define a negative hardness gradient; and

forming a cover layer about the core to form the golf ball.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of coating the preform comprises rolling, spraying, dipping, or dusting.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of coating further comprises coating the preform with a second cure-altering material different from the first.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the second cure-altering material comprises an organosulfur compound, an inorganic sulfide compound, or a metal-containing organosulfur compound.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the cure-altering material is an organosulfur compound or a metal-containing organosulfur compound.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the organosulfur compound comprises pentachlorothiophenol, pentafluorothiophenol, or pentabromothiophenol.

7. The method of claim 4 , wherein the metal-containing organosulfur compound comprises zinc salt of pentachlorothiophenol, zinc salt of pentafluorothiophenol, or zinc salt of pentabromothiophenol.

8. The method of claim 4 , wherein the cure-altering material is an inorganic sulfide and comprises 4,4′-ditolyl disulfide.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of providing the preform further comprises extruding the uncured polybutadiene composition to form an extrudate and cutting the extrudate to form the preform.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of providing the preform further comprises cold-forming the uncured polybutadiene rubber preform into a spherical shape.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of curing the coated preform further comprises heating the preform at a predetermined temperature and compressing the preform at a predetermined pressure.

12. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of centerless-grinding the core such that the core is uniformly spherical.

13. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of surface-treating the core with plasma discharge, corona discharge, silanes, or chlorination.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first hardness is 0 Shore C to 10 Shore C lower than the second hardness.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the first hardness is 0 Shore C to about 5 Shore C lower than the second hardness.

16. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of forming an outer core layer about the uniformly-spherical core to form a dual core.

17. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of forming an intermediate layer about the core prior to forming the cover layer.

18. A method of making a golf ball comprising the steps of:

extruding a polybutadiene composition the form a cylindrical extrudate;

cutting the extrudate to form an uncured polybutadiene preform;

uniformly coating the uncured preform with a cure-altering material comprising a hydroquinone compound, a benzoquinone compound, a resorcinol compound, or a quinhydrone compound;

curing the coated uncured preform to form a single, unitary crosslinked core having an outer surface having a first hardness and a geometric center having a second hardness greater than the first to define a negative hardness gradient;

centerless-grinding the cured core to form a uniformly-spherical core having increased surface roughness;

forming an inner cover layer about the uniformly-spherical core; and

forming an outer cover layer about the inner cover layer to form the golf ball.

19. The method of claim 18 , further comprising the step of forming an outer core layer about the uniformly-spherical core to form a dual core.