Patent ID: 8617639

Claim:
A method of manufacturing a golf ball having a core, a cover and, optionally, one or more intermediate layer between the core and the cover, which cover is formed of a transparent or translucent material or a material obtained by blending a colorant in a transparent or translucent material, the method comprising the steps of: fabricating a preformed body which is a core or a sphere comprising a core over which one or more intermediate layer has been formed; transferring the preformed body to a temporary storage place; selecting a preformed body matching a cover to be formed from among a plurality of preformed bodies stored at the temporary storage place; transferring the selected preformed body to a cover-forming step; forming a cover over the preformed body transferred from the temporary storage place; in the preformed body fabricating step, including in or coating onto the preformed body a fluorescent material that fluoresces when exposed to ultraviolet radiation; and in the preformed body selecting step, exposing the preformed bodies stored at the temporary storage place to ultraviolet radiation so as to generate a fluorescent color, and identifying by the color a preformed body matching the cover to be formed.