Golf ball core with soft outer transition volume and negative hardness gradient

1. A golf ball comprising:

a unitary inner core having a volume, an outer surface, a geometric center, and an outermost transition volume adjacent to the outer surface, the core being formed from a substantially homogenous composition;

an outer core layer disposed about the unitary inner core and having a negative hardness gradient or a positive hardness gradient; and

a cover layer comprising ionomer, metallocene-catalyzed polymer, polyester, polyamide, non-ionomeric thermoplastic elastomer, copolyether-ester, copolyether-amide, polycarbonate, polybutadiene, polyisoprene, or polystyrene block copolymer;

wherein the outermost transition volume is disposed between the inner core outer surface and the geometric center, the transition volume has an outer portion congruent with the inner core outer surface, and comprises the outermost 5% to 40% of the inner core volume or less;

and wherein both a hardness of the inner core outer surface and a hardness within the outermost transition volume are less than the hardness of the geometric center to define a negative hardness gradient.

2. The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein the cover layer comprises an ionomer.

3. The golf ball of claim 2 , wherein the transition volume comprises the outermost 10% to 30% of the inner core volume.

4. The golf ball of claim 3 , wherein the transition volume comprises the outermost 10% to 20% of the inner core volume.

5. The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein the transition volume has a thickness of 0.65 mm to 2.5 mm.

6. The golf ball of claim 5 , wherein the transition volume thickness is 0.75 mm to 1.9 mm.

7. The golf ball of claim 6 , wherein the transition volume thickness is 1 mm to 1.5 mm.

8. The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein the hardness of the outer surface of the inner core is 1 Shore C to 10 Shore C lower than the hardness at the geometric center.

9. The golf ball of claim 8 , wherein the hardness of the outer surface of the inner core is 1 Shore C to 5 Shore C lower than the hardness at the geometric center.

10. The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein the transition volume has an inner portion and the hardness within the transition volume decreases by at least 2 Shore C/mm in a direction away from the inner portion and towards the outer portion.

11. The golf ball of claim 10 , wherein the transition volume has an inner portion and the hardness within the transition volume decreases by at least 3 Shore C/mm in a direction away from the inner portion and towards the outer portion.

12. The golf ball of claim 11 , wherein the transition volume has an inner portion and the hardness within the transition volume decreases by at least 4 Shore C/mm in a direction away from the inner portion and towards the outer portion.

13. The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein the geometric center of the inner core has a hardness of about 60 to 80 Shore C.

14. The golf ball of claim 13 , wherein the inner core has a hardness at a distance of about 8 mm from the geometric center of about 75 to 77 Shore C, and a hardness at a distance of about 14 mm from the geometric center of about 73 to 75 Shore C.

15. The golf ball of claim 14 , wherein the inner core has a hardness at a distance of about 18 mm from the geometric center of about 80 Shore C, and a hardness at a distance of about 25 mm from the geometric center of about 85 Shore C, and a hardness at a distance of about 30 mm from the geometric center of about 90 Shore C.

16. The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein a dual core comprising a combination of the unitary inner core and the outer core layer has an outer diameter of 1.0 to 1.64 inches.

17. The golf ball of claim 16 , wherein the outer diameter of the dual core is 1.3 to 1.62 inches.

18. The golf ball of claim 17 , wherein the outer diameter of the dual core is 1.4 to 1.6 inches.