Abstract: In order to provide a golf ball with a water immersion indicator, a golf ball with indicia or a particular recognizable color is overlain with an opacification layer that provides a mask over the indicia or the colored ball until such time as the ball has been immersed in water for a predetermined period of time affecting the ball's performance. The opacification layer when removed or otherwise made transparent, while providing for a change in the appearance of the golf ball upon water immersion, does not need to have a layer or indicia which changes color in reaction to the infusion of water. Rather the opacification layer is either removed or made transparent to expose an underlying colored surface or a surface bearing pre-determined indicia, thus to alter the appearance of the ball when it has been immersed in water for a period of time which affects golf ball properties.