Golf club head with sole compliance zone
A golf club head with a sole having a low stiffness compliance zone, which allows the face to deflect downward upon impact with a golf ball, is disclosed herein. The compliance zone comprises a plurality of through openings that are filled with one or more filler pieces comprising a low modulus material, all of which are located within three inches of a face section measured along a front-to-back axis of the golf club head.
1. A golf club head comprising:
a body comprising a face portion and a sole section, wherein the sole section comprises a compliance zone located within three inches of the face portion measured along a front-to-back x-axis, wherein the compliance zone comprises a plurality of through-openings; and
a plurality of plugs, wherein each of the plurality of through-openings is filled with a plug of the plurality of plugs;
wherein each of the plurality of plugs is a secondary filler piece comprising a base portion and a plurality of extensions, wherein each of the plurality of extensions extends from the base portion, and wherein each of the plurality of extensions fills one of the plurality of through-openings.
2. The golf club head of claim 1 wherein at least one of the plurality of through-openings is circular.
3. The golf club head of claim 1 wherein the plurality of through-openings comprises twenty through-openings.
4. The golf club head of claim 1 wherein the golf club head is a fairway wood-type golf club head.
5. The golf club head of claim 1 wherein the secondary filler piece comprises an inner portion and a cover piece, wherein the inner piece is composed of a high-density material, and wherein the cover piece is composed of a material having a lower density than the high density material.
6. The golf club head of claim 5 wherein the inner portion is metal injection molded.
7. The golf club head of claim 5 wherein the cover piece is overmolded over the inner portion.
8. The golf club head of claim 5 wherein the cover piece comprises each of the plurality of extensions.
9. The golf club head of claim 1 further comprising plurality of pegs extending from an interior surface of the sole portion within the compliance zone, wherein each peg of the plurality of pegs is disposed behind a through-opening of the plurality of through-openings, wherein the base portion of the secondary filler piece comprises a plurality of sockets, and wherein each peg of the plurality of pegs is sized to fit within a socket of the plurality of sockets.
10. The golf club head of claim 1 wherein the plurality of through-openings is disposed proximate to and is aligned parallel with a face opening.
11. The golf club head of claim 1 wherein the plurality of through-holes vary in shape, size, and length across the compliance zone.
12. The golf club head of claim 1 wherein the compliance zone comprises a variable thickness ranging from 0.01 inch to 0.05 inch.
13. The golf club head of claim 1 wherein the body is composed of a metal material, and wherein a crown insert is composed of a non-metal material.
14. A fairway wood golf club head comprising:
a body comprising a face portion and a sole section, wherein the sole section comprises a compliance zone that has a variable thickness ranging from 0.01 inch to 0.05 inch and comprises a plurality of through-openings; and
a filler piece comprising a base portion, a plurality of extensions, an inner portion composed of a first material, and a cover piece composed of a second material that has a lower density than the first material, wherein each of the plurality of through-openings is filled with an extension of the plurality of extensions.
15. The golf club head of claim 14 wherein the plurality of through-openings is disposed proximate to and is aligned parallel with a face opening.
16. The fairway wood golf club head of claim 14 wherein the plurality of through-holes vary in shape, size, and length across the compliance zone.
17. The fairway wood golf club head of claim 14 wherein the cover piece comprises each of the plurality of extensions.