Fairway wood golf club
A golf club head formed of an alloy of steel that is capable of improving the center of gravity (CG) location while maintaining traditional external dimensions of the golf club head. More specifically, the golf club head in accordance with the present invention achieves a relatively low CG while maintaining traditional external dimensions by reducing the amount of mass contributed by the crown, the striking face, and the hosel, and strategically reallocating this mass within and/or proximate the sole of the golf club head.
1 . A golf club head comprising:
a striking face that defines a face center, a crown, as sole opposite said crown, a heel, a toe opposite said heel, and a hosel adjacent said heel and configured to join said golf club head to a shaft,
wherein an X-axis is defined as a horizontal axis tangent to said face center of said striking face with a positive direction towards said heel of said golf club head, a Y-axis is a vertical axis orthogonal to said X-axis with a positive direction towards said crown of said golf club head, and a Z-axis being orthogonal to both said X-axis and said Y-axis with a positive direction towards a front of said golf club head, wherein an origin of said X-axis, said Y-axis, and said Z-axis is centered at a center of gravity (CG) of said golf club head,
wherein said crown has a minimum crown thickness of between about 0.3 mm and about 0.6 mm,
wherein said golf club head below an X-Z plane set at a vertical height from a ground plane equal to 25% of a peak crown height measurement is greater than about 45% of a total mass of said golf club head, and
wherein said striking face has a Max Face Thickness to Sole Return Thickness Ratio of between about 1.70 to about 2.18, said Max Face Thickness to Sole Return Thickness Ration defined as:
Max
Face
Thickness
to
Sole
Return
Thickness
Ratio
=
Max
Face
Thickness
(
T
f
1
)
Sole
Return
Thickness
(
T
R
)
.
2 . The golf club head of claim 1 , wherein said Max Face Thickness to Sole Return Thickness Ratio is between about 1.78 to about 2.03.
3 . The golf club head of claim 2 , wherein said Max Face Thickness to Sole Return Thickness Ratio is between about 1.88 to about 1.91.
4 . The golf club head of claim 1 , wherein said striking face further comprises a sole return, wherein said sole return has a sole return distance of between about 9.0 mm to about 11.0 mm.
5 . The golf club head of claim 4 , wherein said sole return distance is between about 9.5 mm to about 10.5 mm.
6 . The golf club head of claim 5 , wherein said sole return distance is about 10.0 mm.
7 . The golf club head of claim 6 , wherein said striking face further comprises a sole return thickness of between about 0.8 mm to about 1.0 mm.
8 . The golf club head of claim 7 , wherein said sole return thickness is between about 0.85 to about 0.95 mm.
9 . The golf club head of claim 8 , wherein said sole return thickness is about 0.9 mm.
10 . The golf club head of claim 1 , wherein said golf club head has a peak crown height of greater than about 35 mm.
11 . The golf club head of claim 10 , wherein said golf club head has a ground to top face radius measurement of greater than or equal to about 31.0 mm.
12 . A golf club head comprising:
a striking face, having a face center, a crown, as sole opposite said crown, a heel, a toe opposite said heel, and a hosel adjacent said heel and configured to join said golf club head to a shaft,
wherein said striking face has a sole return,
wherein an X-axis is defined as a horizontal axis tangent to said face center of said striking face with a positive direction towards said heel of said golf club head, a Y-axis is a vertical axis orthogonal to said X-axis with a positive direction towards said crown of said golf club head, and a Z-axis being orthogonal to both said X-axis and said Y-axis with a positive direction towards a front of said golf club head, wherein an origin of said X-axis, said Y-axis, and said Z-axis is centered at a center of gravity (CG) of said golf club head,
wherein said crown has a minimum crown thickness of between about 0.3 mm and about 0.6 mm,
wherein said sole return has a sole return distance of between about 9.0 mm to about 11.0 mm, and
wherein a mass of said golf club head below an X-Z plane set at a vertical height from a ground plane equal to 25% of a peak crown height measurement is greater than about 45% of a total mass of said golf club head.
13 . The golf club head of claim 12 , wherein said sole return distance is between about 9.5 mm to about 10.5 mm.
14 . The golf club head of claim 13 , wherein said sole return distance is about 10.0 mm.
15 . The golf club head of claim 12 , wherein said striking face of said golf club head has a Max Face Thickness to Sole Return Distance Ratio of between about 0.15 to about 0.19, said Max Face Thickness to Sole Return Distance Ratio defined as:
Max
Face
Thickness
to
Sole
Return
Distance
Ratio
=
Max
Face
Thickness
(
T
f
1
)
Sole
Return
Distance
(
D
R
)
.
16 . The golf club head of claim 15 , wherein said Max Face Thickness to Sole Return Distance Ratio is between about 0.16 to about 0.18.
17 . The golf club head of claim 16 , wherein said Max Face Thickness to Sole Return Distance Ratio is about 0.17.
18 . The golf club head of claim 17 , wherein said golf club head has a Maximum Sole Thickness to Minimum Crown Thickness Ratio of greater than or equal to about 4.0, said Maximum Sole Thickness to Minimum Crown Thickness Ratio defined as:
Maximum
Sole
Thickness
to
Minimum
Crown
Thickness
Ratio
=
Maximum
Sole
Thickness
(
mm
)
Minimum
Crown
Thickness
(
mm
)
.
19 . A golf club head comprising:
a striking face that defines a face center, a crown, as sole opposite said crown, a heel, a toe opposite said heel, and a hosel adjacent said heel and configured to join said golf club head to a shaft,
wherein said striking face has a sole return,
wherein an X-axis is defined as a horizontal axis tangent to said face center of said striking face with a positive direction towards said heel of said golf club head, a Y-axis is a vertical axis orthogonal to said X-axis with a positive direction towards said crown of said golf club head, and a Z-axis being orthogonal to both said X-axis and said Y-axis with a positive direction towards a front of said golf club head, wherein an origin of said X-axis, said Y-axis, and said Z-axis is centered at a center of gravity (CG) of said golf club head,
wherein said crown has a minimum crown thickness of between about 0.3 mm and about 0.6 mm,
wherein said sole return has a sole return distance of between about 9.0 mm to about 11.0 mm.
wherein a mass of said golf club head below an X-Z plane set at a vertical height from a ground plane equal to 25% of a peak crown height measurement is greater than about 45% of a total mass of said golf club head, and
wherein said golf club head has a Maximum Sole Thickness to Minimum Crown Thickness Ratio of greater than or equal to about 4.0, said Maximum Sole Thickness to Minimum Crown Thickness Ratio defined as:
Maximum
Sole
Thickness
to
Minimum
Crown
Thickness
Ratio
=
Maximum
Sole
Thickness
(
mm
)
Minimum
Crown
Thickness
(
mm
)
.