Low spin, soft compression, performance golf ball

Abstract

A progressive performance ball with a soft, low compression core exhibiting long distance and controlled greenside play is disclosed. The low compression core is encased within a multiple layer cover comprising an inner cover layer made from a relatively soft ionomer material and an outer cover layer made from a thermoplastic or thermoset urethane or polyurethane. The core may also contain an organic sulfur compound to further increase the coefficient of restitution of the ball. The progressive performance ball according to the present invention exhibits long distance when struck by driver clubs and high back spin for better greenside play when struck by wedge or half-wedge clubs.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A golf ball comprising: 
 a core formed at least in part of polybutadiene having Mooney viscosity less than about 65; and    at least a first cover layer surrounding the core, the first cover layer formed of an ionomer having a Shore D hardness on the ball of less than about 65.    
     
     
         2 . The golf ball of  claim 1 , wherein the core compression is less than about 60  
     
     
         3 . The golf ball of  claim 2 , wherein the core compression is in the range of about 30 to about 60.  
     
     
         4 . The golf ball of  claim 3 , wherein the core compression is in the range of about 50 to about 55.  
     
     
         5 . The golf ball of  claim 3 , wherein the core compression is in the range of about 30 to about 40.  
     
     
         6 . The golf ball of  claim 1 , wherein the Mooney viscosity of the polybutadiene is in the range of about 40 to about 60.  
     
     
         7 . The golf ball of  claim 1 , wherein the coefficient of restitution of the ball is in the range of about 0.795 to about 0.815.  
     
     
         8 . The golf ball of  claim 1 , wherein the core also includes an organic sulfur or a salt thereof.  
     
     
         9 . The golf ball of  claim 8 , wherein the organic sulfur is pentachlorothiophenol or a zinc salt thereof.  
     
     
         10 . The golf ball of  claim 8 , wherein the core also includes zinc diacrylate.  
     
     
         11 . The golf ball of  claim 1 , wherein the first cover layer has a Shore D hardness on the ball in the range of about 60 to about 63.  
     
     
         12 . The golf ball of  claim 1 , wherein the first cover layer is made from a material selected from a group consisting of high acid copolymer ionomers, very low modulus acid copolymer ionomers, low modulus acid copolymers, thermoplastic or thermoset polyurethanes, thermoplastic or thermoset polyetheresters or polyetheramides, thermoplastic or thermoset polyester, dynamically vulcanized elastomers, functionalized styrenebutadiene elastomers, metallocenes, highly neutralized ethylene copolymers, and highly resilient thermoplastic elastomeric compositions.  
     
     
         13 . The golf ball of  claim 1 , further comprises a second cover layer which surrounds the first cover layer and which is formed of a polyurethane material having a Shore D hardness in the range of about 40 to about 55.  
     
     
         14 . The golf ball of  claim 13 , wherein the Shore D hardness of the second cover layer is in the range of about 45 to about 48.  
     
     
         15 . The golf ball of  claim 13 , wherein the Shore D hardness of the ball is greater than about 53.  
     
     
         16 . The golf ball of  claim 13 , wherein the polyurethane is a thermoplastic polymer.  
     
     
         17 . The golf ball of  claim 13 , wherein the polyurethane is a thermoset polymer.  
     
     
         18 . The golf ball of  claim 1 , wherein the core comprises multiple layers.  
     
     
         19 . A golf ball comprising: 
 a core formed at least in part of polybutadiene having Mooney viscosity in the range of about 40 to about 60;    at least a first cover layer surrounding the core, the first cover layer formed of an ionomer having a Shore D hardness on the ball of less than about 65; and    a second cover layer which surrounds the first cover layer and which is formed of a polyurethane material having a Shore D hardness on the ball in the range of about 40 to about 55.