Golf club head with structural columns

1. A golf club head comprising:

a body comprising a striking face section, a sole section extending from a lower edge of the striking face section, and a crown section extending from an upper edge of the striking face section, the striking face section, sole section, and crown section defining a hollow body interior; and

a plurality of structural columns disposed within the hollow body interior and extending from the crown section to the sole section,

wherein a crown end of each of the plurality of structural columns is connected to the crown section and a sole end of each of the plurality of structural columns is connected to the sole section,

wherein the striking face section comprises a rear face surface facing the hollow body interior,

wherein each of the plurality of structural columns is located no more than 1 inch from the rear face surface along a vertical plane extending through the face center perpendicular to the striking face section,

wherein each of the plurality of structural columns has a diameter of 0.050 inch to 0.200 inch,

wherein each of the plurality of structural columns has an upper end and a lower end,

wherein the upper end of each of the plurality of structural columns is located closer to the rear surface than the respective lower end of each of the plurality of structural columns,

wherein the plurality of structural columns extend approximately parallel to one another and are spaced from one another by a distance of 0.500 inch to 2.000 inch;

wherein no portion of each of the plurality of structural columns makes contact with the striking face section when the striking face section impacts a golf ball,

wherein the positioning of each of the plurality of structural columns improves the normalized ball speed (V ballnorm ) relationship to characteristic time (CT), and

wherein the plurality of structural columns attenuates movement of the crown section and the sole section when the striking face section impacts a golf ball.

2. The golf club head of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of structural columns comprises a heel structural column and a toe structural column, and wherein the heel structural column is spaced a distance of 0.75 inch to 1.50 inches from the toe structural column.

3. The golf club head of claim 2 , wherein each of the heel and toe structural columns comprises a structure selected from the group consisting of a solid rod and a hollow tube.

4. The golf club head of claim 3 , wherein each of the heel and toe structural columns is a solid rod, and wherein the solid rod is composed of a metal material selected from the group consisting of titanium alloy and steel.

5. The golf club head of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of structural columns is located no more than 0.25 inch from the rear face surface along the vertical plane extending through the face center perpendicular to the striking face section.

6. The golf club head of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of structural columns is positioned within an imaginary cube defined by the crown section, the sole section, a distance of 1.5 inches from a heel end of the body, a distance of 1.5 inches from a toe end of the body, a distance of 3.5 inches from an aft end of the body, and a distance of 0.120 inch rearward from the rear face surface of the striking face section.

7. The golf club head of claim 1 , further comprising a cover piece, wherein the sole section comprises a plurality of cutouts, wherein each of the plurality of cutouts is an opening in communication with the hollow body interior, and wherein the cover piece is permanently affixed to a surface of the sole section so that a portion of the cover piece extends over and covers each of the plurality of cutouts.

8. The golf club head of claim 1 , further comprising a crown insert, wherein the crown section comprises an upper opening, and wherein the crown insert is affixed to a surface of the crown section so that a portion of the crown insert extends over and covers the upper opening.

9. A golf club head comprising:

a metal body comprising a hollow body interior, a striking face section having a rear face surface facing the hollow body interior, a sole section extending from a lower edge of the striking face section, an upper opening, and a return section extending from an upper edge of the striking face section, the return section disposed between the striking face section and the upper opening; and

a plurality of solid metal structural columns disposed within the hollow body interior and extending from the return section to the sole section,

wherein a crown end of each of the plurality of structural columns is connected to the return section and a sole end of each of the plurality of structural columns is connected to the sole section,

wherein each of the plurality of structural columns is positioned within an imaginary cube defined by the return section, the sole section, a distance of 1.5 inches from a heel end of the metal body, a distance of 1.5 inches from a toe end of the metal body, a distance of 3.5 inches from an aft end of the metal body, and a distance of 0.120 inch rearward from the rear face surface of the striking face section,

wherein each of the plurality of structural columns has a diameter of 0.050 inch to 0.200 inch,

wherein each of the plurality of structural columns has an upper end and a lower end,

wherein the upper end of each of the plurality of structural columns is located closer to the rear face surface than the respective lower end of each of the plurality of structural columns,

wherein the plurality of structural columns extend approximately parallel to one another and are spaced from one another by a distance of 0.500 inch to 2.00 inch,

wherein no portion of the at least one structural column makes contact with the striking face section when the striking face section impacts a golf ball,

wherein the positioning of each of the plurality of structural columns improves the normalized ball speed (V ballnorm ) relationship to characteristic time (CT), and

wherein the plurality of structural columns attenuates movement of the return section and the sole section when the striking face section impacts a golf ball.

10. The golf club head of claim 9 , further comprising a crown insert, wherein the crown insert is permanently affixed to a surface of the body so that a portion of the crown insert extends over and covers the upper opening.

11. The golf club head of claim 10 , wherein the crown insert is composed of a carbon composite material.

12. The golf club head of claim 9 , wherein each of the plurality of structural columns is integrally cast with the body.

13. The golf club head of claim 9 , further comprising a carbon composite cover piece, wherein the sole section comprises a cutout in communication with the hollow body interior, and wherein the cover piece is permanently affixed to a surface of the sole section so that a portion of the cover piece extends over and covers the cutout.

14. The golf club head of claim 9 , wherein each of the plurality of structural columns has a length of 1.00 inch to 2.50 inches.

15. The golf club head of claim 9 , wherein a contact area between the return section and each of the plurality of structural columns ranges from 0.02 square inch to 0.04 square inch.

16. A golf club head comprising:

a titanium alloy body comprising a hollow body interior, a striking face section having an exterior surface and a rear face surface facing the hollow body interior, a sole section extending from a lower edge of the striking face section, an upper opening, a heel end, a toe end, an aft end, and a return section extending from an upper edge of the striking face section, the return section disposed between the striking face section and the upper opening; and

a plurality of structural columns disposed within the hollow body interior and extending from the return section to the sole section,

wherein a crown end of each of the plurality of structural columns is connected to the return section and a sole end of each of the plurality of structural columns is connected to the sole section,

wherein each of the plurality of structural columns is positioned within an imaginary cube defined by the return section, the sole section, a distance of 1.5 inches from the heel end, a distance of 1.5 inches from the toe end, a distance of 3.5 inches from the aft end, and a distance of 0.120 inch rearward from the rear face surface,

wherein each of the plurality of structural columns has a diameter of 0.050 inch to 0.200 inch,

wherein each of the plurality of structural columns has an upper end and a lower end,

wherein the upper end of each of the plurality of structural columns is located closer to the rear face surface than the respective lower end of each of the plurality of structural columns,

wherein the plurality of structural columns extend approximately parallel to one another and are spaced from one another by a distance of 0.500 inch to 2.00 inch,

wherein no portion of the plurality of structural columns makes contact with the striking face section when the striking face section impacts a golf ball,

wherein the plurality of structural columns attenuates movement of the return section and the sole section when the striking face section impacts a golf ball,

wherein the positioning of each of the plurality of structural columns improves the normalized ball speed (V ballnorm ) relationship to characteristic time (CT), and

wherein the golf club head has a volume of 420 cubic centimeters to 470 cubic centimeters.

17. The golf club head of claim 16 , wherein the plurality of structural columns occupies a volume of 0.1% to 1.0% of an internal volume of the golf club head.

18. The golf club head of claim 16 , wherein a contact area between the return section and the plurality of structural columns ranges from 0.02 square inch to 0.04 square inch.

19. The golf club head of claim 16 , wherein the plurality of structural columns comprises at least one arc surface having a radius of curvature ranging from 0.02 inch to 0.1 inch.