Golf club head

1. An iron-type golf club head comprising:

a topline;

a sole in opposed relation to the topline; and

a front portion extending from the topline toward the sole, the front portion including a leading edge, a substantially planar hitting region including a face center, and a peripheral region at least partially surrounding the hitting region such that the hitting region and the peripheral region define therebetween a visually-recognizable hitting region boundary line including a sole-proximate boundary line segment such that when the club head is oriented in a reference position relative to a virtual ground plane, and in a virtual vertical plane perpendicular to the hitting region and passing through the face center, the sole-proximate boundary line segment is vertically spaced above the leading edge by a distance D 1 that is no less than 2.5 mm.

2. The iron-type golf club head recited in claim 1 , wherein the distance D 1 is no less than 4 mm.

3. The iron-type golf club head recited in claim 1 , wherein the peripheral region is angularly offset from the hitting region such that the sole-proximate boundary line segment comprises an angular junction between the peripheral region and the hitting region.

4. The iron-type golf club head recited in claim 1 , wherein at least a portion of the peripheral region is substantially co-planar with the hitting region.

5. The iron-type golf club head recited in claim 1 , wherein the hitting region defines a first surface finish and the peripheral region defines a second surface finish different from the first surface finish to create the visually-recognizable boundary line between the hitting region and the peripheral region.

6. The iron-type golf club head recited in claim 1 , wherein when the club head is oriented in the reference position and in the virtual vertical plane, the sole-proximate boundary line segment is vertically spaced above the ground plane by at least 7 mm.

7. The iron-type golf club head recited in claim 1 , further comprising a loft angle of no less than about 40 degrees.

8. A golf club including the iron-type golf club head recited in claim 1 , the golf club further comprising a golf shaft and a negative face angle.

9. An iron-type golf club comprising:

a golf club head comprising:

a topline;

a sole in opposed relation to the topline; and

a front portion extending from the topline toward the sole, the front portion including a leading edge, a substantially planar hitting region including a face center, and a peripheral region at least partially surrounding the hitting region such that the hitting region and the peripheral region defining therebetween a visually-recognizable hitting region boundary line including a sole-proximate boundary line segment such that when the club head is oriented in a reference position relative to a virtual ground plane, and in a virtual vertical plane perpendicular to the hitting surface and passing through the face center, the sole-proximate boundary line segment is vertically spaced above the virtual ground plane by distance D 2 between 4 mm and 12 mm;

a golf shaft secured to the golf club head; and

a negative face angle.

10. The iron-type golf club head recited in claim 9 , wherein the distance D 2 is no less than 7 mm.

11. The iron-type golf club head recited in claim 9 , wherein the peripheral region is angularly offset from the hitting region such that the sole-proximate boundary line segment comprises an angular junction between the peripheral region and the hitting region.

12. The iron-type golf club head recited in claim 9 , wherein the peripheral region is substantially co-planar with the hitting region.

13. The iron-type golf club head recited in claim 9 , further comprising a loft angle no less than about 40 degrees.

14. The iron-type golf club head recited in claim 9 , wherein the hitting region defines a first surface finish and the peripheral region defines a second surface finish different from the first surface finish to create the visually-recognizable hitting region boundary line.

15. An iron-type golf club head comprising:

a topline;

a sole in opposed relation to the topline; and

a front portion extending from the topline toward the sole, the front portion including:

a leading edge;

a substantially planar hitting region including a face center and comprising a first surface finish; and

a peripheral region at least partially surrounding, and coplanar with, the hitting region, the peripheral region comprising a second surface finish such that the hitting region and the peripheral region define therebetween a visually-recognizable hitting region boundary line that includes a sole-proximate boundary line segment such that, when the club head is oriented in a reference position relative to a virtual ground plane, and in a virtual vertical plane perpendicular to the hitting surface and passing through the face center, the sole-proximate boundary line segment is vertically spaced above the leading edge by a distance D 1 no less than 2.5 mm.

16. The iron-type golf club head recited in claim 15 , wherein the distance D 1 is no less than 7 mm.

17. The iron-type golf club head recited in claim 15 , further comprising a loft angle no less than 40 degrees.

18. The iron-type golf club head recited in claim 15 , wherein the first surface finish comprises a media-blasted surface or a milled surface.

19. The iron-type golf club head of claim 15 , wherein the second surface finish comprises a finish selected from the group consisting of: a physical vapor deposited coating, a polished metallic coating, a black-colored coating, an anodized coating, a laser-etched coating, and a chemically-etched coating.

20. A golf club including the iron-type golf club head recited in claim 15 , the golf club further comprising a golf shaft and a negative face angle.