Golf ball having reduced surface hardness
A golf ball comprising a core and a cover, the core comprising an outer surface and a geometric center, the outer surface being treated with and comprising a fatty acid and/or fatty acid salt composition, the outer surface further having a first hardness and the geometric center having a second hardness, wherein the first hardness is the same as or different than the second hardness.
1. A golf ball comprising a core and a cover, said core comprising an outer surface and a geometric center, the outer surface being treated with and comprising a fatty acid and/or fatty acid salt composition, the outer surface further having a first hardness and the geometric center having a second hardness, wherein the first hardness is less than the second hardness to define a negative hardness gradient.
2. The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein the core comprises a thermoset rubber composition.
3. The golf ball of claim 2 , wherein the thermoset rubber composition comprises a polybutadiene material and the core comprises a surface hardness of about 50 Shore C or greater.
4. The golf ball of claim 3 , wherein the polybutadiene composition is at least partially crosslinked.
5. The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein the fatty acid and/or fatty acid salt composition comprises oleic acid, palmitic acid, stearic acid, behenic acid, pelargonic acid, linoleic acid, linolenic acid, arachidonic acid, caproic acid, caprylic acid, capric acid, lauric acid, erucic acid, myristic acid, benzoic acid, phenylacetic acid, or naphthalenoic acid.
6. The golf ball of claim 5 , wherein the fatty acid and/or fatty acid salt composition comprises a cation selected from the group comprising barium, lithium, sodium, zinc, bismuth, chromium, cobolt, copper, potassium, strontium, titanium, tungsten, magnesium, cesium, iron, nickel, silver, aluminum, tin and calcium.
7. The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein the fatty acid and/or fatty acid salt composition further comprises at least one of an antioxidant, a peroxide, a sulfur-bearing compound, zinc methacrylate, zinc dimethacrylate, a softening acrylate monomer or oligomer, a thermoplastic resin, or an hydroquinone.
8. The golf ball of claim 7 , wherein the thermoplastic resin comprises at least one of polyethylene vinyl acetate, polyethylene butyl acrylate, polyethylene methyl acrylate, polyethylene acrylic acid, polyethylene methacrylic acid or an ionomer.
9. The golf ball of claim 1 , further comprising an intermediate core layer disposed about the core and adjacent the cover layer.
10. A golf ball comprising a core and a cover, said core comprising an outer surface and a geometric center, wherein the outer surface comprises a fatty acid and/or fatty acid salt composition and has a first hardness and the geometric center does not comprise the fatty acid and/or fatty acid salt composition and has a second hardness greater than the first hardness to define a negative hardness gradient.
11. A golf ball comprising a core and a cover, wherein the core comprises a geometric center and a treated outer surface, the treated outer surface having a first hardness and the geometric center having a second hardness, the treated outer surface being treated with a surface-softening material comprising at least one fatty acid and/or fatty acid salt composition such that the second hardness is greater than the first hardness to define a negative hardness gradient.
12. A golf ball comprising a core and a cover, said core comprising a fatty acid and/or fatty acid salt composition outer surface and a geometric center that does not comprise the fatty acid and/or fatty acid salt composition, the fatty acid and/or fatty acid salt composition outer surface having a first hardness and the geometric center having a second hardness wherein the first hardness is less than the second hardness to define a negative hardness gradient.
13. The golf ball of claim 12 , wherein the core comprises a thermoset rubber composition.
14. A golf ball comprising a core and a cover, said core comprising an outer surface and a geometric center, the outer surface being treated with and comprising a fatty acid and/or fatty acid salt composition and having a first hardness, the geometric center not comprising the fatty acid and/or fatty acid salt composition and having a second hardness that is different than the first hardness.