Golf ball material, golf ball, and method for preparing golf ball material

Abstract

The invention provides a golf ball material comprising components (A), (B) and (C): (A) a mixture of different masterbatches prepared by separately masterbatching two or more different metal ions (A1) or a masterbatch prepared by simultaneously masterbatching two or more different metal ions in itself (A2), (B) one or more polymer selected from the group consisting of diene polymers, thermoplastic polymers and thermoset polymers, and (C) one or more polymer having an acid content of from about 0.5 to about 30 wt % and selected from the group consisting of olefin-unsaturated carboxylic acid copolymers, olefin-unsaturated carboxylic acid-unsaturated carboxylic acid ester terpolymers, unsaturated carboxylic anhydride-containing polymers, unsaturated dicarboxylic acid-containing polymers and unsaturated dicarboxylic acid half ester-containing polymers. The invention also provides a method for preparing such a golf ball material, and a golf ball made of the material. The golf ball material has a good thermal stability, flow and processability, making it suitable for injection-molding. Moreover, this material is ideal for producing, without any loss of the rebound resilience of golf ball parts molded from the material, high-performance golf balls having excellent durability, scuff resistance and flexibility.