Golf ball having reduced surface hardness

Abstract

The invention is directed to golf ball comprising a core and a cover disposed about the core, the cover comprising at least one cover layer comprising an cover outer surface and a cover inner surface, the cover outer surface comprising a fatty acid and/or fatty acid salt composition, the cover outer surface further comprising a hardness α and the cover inner surface comprising a hardness β, wherein the hardness α is different than the hardness β. In another embodiment, the at least one cover layer comprises a treated cover region and an untreated cover region, the treated cover region extending inward from the cover outer surface a depth of about 1% or greater of a distance between the cover outer surface and the cover inner surface, and the untreated cover region being disposed about the cover inner surface and adjacent the treated cover region. In yet another embodiment, the treated cover region extends inward from the cover outer surface a predetermined depth DCTr and the untreated cover region is disposed between the cover inner surface and the treated cover region a predetermined depth DCUTr, said treated cover region being treated with and/or a comprising a fatty acid and/or fatty acid salt composition wherein the treated cover region comprises a hardness α and the untreated cover region comprises a hardness β that is different than the hardness α.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.