A thread wound golf ball having improved characteristics of moment of inertia, spin, and total flight distance, comprising a center, a thread winding layer disposed over the center forming a core, and a cover disposed over the core. The improved characteristics are achieved by shifting the weight of the golf ball from the center towards the periphery by use of heavy thread. This could be achieved by adding a high specific gravity filler material, such as tungsten, to the conventional thread compound and/or using polymer materials in the thread that are inherently heavier. By using a high specific gravity filler material, other desirable characteristics inherent in a wound ball such as resilience, controllability and feel, are not affected.

In a multi-piece solid golf ball comprising an elastic solid core and a resin cover, the cover includes at least an inner layer and an outer layer, the solid core undergoes a deflection of 1.1-4.0 mm under a load of 294 N, the cover inner and outer layers have a Shore D hardness of 45-70 and 35-55, respectively. The ball is provided with a multiplicity of dimples which are substantially uniformly arranged such that a great circle which does not intersect with the dimples is absent. The ball exhibits consistent flight performance when hit with a driver, suppresses reduction of spin when hit in the wet state with a short iron, and offers stable ready-to-strike conditions, flight performance and spin performance under any conditions covering from the fairway to the putting green.

In a solid golf ball comprising an elastic solid core and a resin cover, the cover has a JIS-C hardness of 50-85, and provided that the ball receives a spin rate S1 (rpm) in the dry state and a spin rate S2 (rpm) in the wet state when hit with a short iron having a loft of an 8-iron or greater, the percent spin retention: (S2/S1) × 100 is at least 47%. The ball's spin susceptibility when hit with the short iron is not reduced in the dry state or fine weather, nor is noticeably reduced even in the wet state or rain weather. The ball has so high performance that the ball travels a distance as intended, immediately stops on the green, is easy to control and thus, suited for professional and amateur low-handicap golfers.

In a multi-piece solid golf ball comprising a solid core and a cover of two inner and outer layers enclosing the solid core, the solid core has a deflection of at least 1.1 mm under an applied load of 294 N (30 kgf) and a surface and a center, the surface-center hardness difference given as a JIS-C hardness at the core surface minus a JIS-C hardness at the core center is greater than 15 units, the cover inner layer is formed of a resin composition comprising as essential components, (a) an olefin-unsaturated carboxylic acid random copolymer, an olefin-unsaturated carboxylic acid-unsaturated carboxylate random copolymer, a metal ion neutralized product of each copolymer, or a mixture of each copolymer and the neutralized product, (b) a fatty acid having a molecular weight of at least 280 or derivative thereof, and (c) a basic inorganic metal compound capable of neutralizing acid groups in components (a) and (b), the Shore D hardness of the cover inner layer, the Shore D hardness of the cover outer layer, and the hardness relationship between the cover inner layer and the cover outer layer are adjusted, and the sum of dimple trajectory volumes each obtained by multiplying the volume of a dimple by the square root of a dimple diameter is optimized.

A urethane-covered three-piece golf ball with a liquid-filled center, having a combination of center weight, thread windings, dimple configuration and compression that allows it to travel great distances, and to match the classic feel of 'Balata' balls, said combination at the same time complying with USGA regulations.

Disclosed is a method for coating a golf ball, wherein coating efficiency of paint is high and a uniform coating can be formed. According to the method, a paint is sprayed over a golf ball moving with rotation on the circumference of a circle having a diameter of 0.5 to 1.5 m from a disc charged with 60,000 to 130,000 V, which is rotating at 20,000 to 40,000 rpm and is inclined or moving in the vertical direction, or a paint is sprayed in a direction at an angle of 45° or less to the horizontal direction from a disc charged with the above voltage, which is rotating at the above number of revolutions, to coat the golf ball so that a ratio of the maximum film thickness part to the minimum film thickness part may be 1.5 or less after one round coating.

A golf ball (10) consists of a core (11) and a cover (12). A transparent primer coat (13,14) is applied over the cover (12) and a transparent outermost clear coat (14) is applied over the primer coat (13,14). The primer coat contains an optical brightener in the amount of about 0.45 to 2.7 % by weight of the solids content of the primer coat (13,14).