Sumitomo Rubber Industries Limited

Anthony Munson

Dustin J Brekke

Jacob Lambeth

Darius Cyrulik

Farbod Gharaei

Alexandra Agrella

Joseph Chen

A golf club head includes a golf club head main body having a toe, a heel opposite the toe, a sole, and a top portion opposite the sole. The golf club head further includes a striking face having a face center. The striking face includes a central region including the face center, a first average thickness, and a variable thickness. An upper region above the central region has a second average thickness and a toe region toe-ward of the central region has a third average thickness. An intermediate region at least partially surrounds the central region and is disposed between the central region and each of the upper region and the toe region. The intermediate region has a fourth average thickness that is greater than the first average thickness, the second average thickness, and the third average thickness.

Golf club heads with variable face thickness

A golf club head, when oriented in a reference position, includes: a striking face; a top portion; and a sole portion opposite the top portion. The sole portion includes a leading edge, a trailing edge, at least one sole rail generally elongate in a front-to-rear direction, and a sole contact point located on the at least one sole rail. In a virtual vertical plane extending in the front-to-rear direction and passing through the sole contact point, (i) the sole portion includes a sole length Ls measured in the front-to-rear direction from the leading edge to the trailing edge and (ii) the sole contact point is spaced rearwardly from the leading edge by a distance Dno greater than 0.8*Ls.

Golf club head with sole rails

An iron-type golf club head includes a heel, a toe, a top portion, a sole portion, a top portion, a rear portion, and a striking wall. The striking wall includes a striking face having a plurality of scorelines and a face center and a rear surface. A minimum striking wall thickness T min is no greater than 2.5 min. A thickened central region of the striking wall has a maximum thickness, T max, greater than T min but no greater than 2.75. A first thickness Tof the striking wall corresponds with a first location spaced toe-ward from the face center by a first distance Dof between 20 mm and 30 mm. A second thickness Tof the striking wall corresponds with a second location spaced heel-ward from the face center by the first distance Dsuch that Tis greater than Tby no less than 0.05 mm.

Golf club head

Golf club heads including a striking face with a variable thickness, a shell including a crown, and an internal weight pad located on a lower portion of the shell. The center of gravity depths of at least two golf club heads in a set satisfy the equation: D=a&#x2212;b*LA, with 19 mm&#x3c;a&#x3c;22 mm and b=0.36 mm/degrees, and the at least two golf club heads have a difference in loft angle LA of at least 5 degrees. A moment of inertia about a vertical axis through the center of gravity of each of the at least two golf club heads is at least 2900 g*cm. In one aspect, a striking face has a center region having a first thickness T1, an intermediate region having a second thickness T2, and a perimeter region having a third thickness T3, with T2&#x3c;T1&#x3c;T3.

A hollow-type golf club head, when oriented in a reference position, includes: a striking wall; a sole portion; a top portion having an exterior surface and an interior surface; a hosel extending from the top portion and defining a hosel axis; and a plurality of external ribs located on the exterior surface of the top portion. The plurality of external ribs are each generally elongate in a front-to-rear direction, and at least one internal rib is located on the interior surface of the top portion and is generally elongate in the front-to-rear direction. The at least one internal rib is spaced from the plurality of external ribs by a distance Dno less than 2 mm as considered in top view of the club head.

Golf club head with external and internal ribs

A variable face thickness pattern is determined for a golf club head by setting a target value for a first constraint. Parametrization zones are defined and values set for a first parameter and a second parameter for each parametrization zone. Resultant first constraint values are evaluated from simulated impacts against the target first constraint value and the values are changed for the first and second parameters to result in a simulated face thickness pattern. In one aspect, the club head has a maximum coefficient of restitution at a first location of the striking face and a second coefficient of restitution that is no less than 98% of the maximum coefficient of restitution at a second location that is at least 7.5 mm from the first location. In another aspect, the club head has a moment of inertia, Izz, and a mass, mh, satisfying: Izz&#x3e;mh*9.3 cm.

A club head with a variable face thickness includes a body having a toe, heel, sole, and top portion. The loft angle LA and the club head mass mh satisfy mh=2.1 g/degree*LA+a, where 190 g&#x3c;a&#x3c;210 g, and the club head has a blade length less than 80 mm. A striking face of the club head has a face center, and defines a face plane. A virtual center plane extends vertically through the face center perpendicularly to the face plane. A center of gravity of the club head is located not more than 2.0 mm from the virtual center plane, and a moment of inertia about a vertical axis extending through the center of gravity satisfies: Izz&#x3e;mh*9.3 cm. In one aspect, a face insert including the striking face has a mass mf such that mf/mh is less than or equal to 0.22.

An iron-type golf club head includes a heel, a toe, a top portion, a sole portion, a top portion, a rear portion, and a striking wall. The striking wall includes a striking face having a plurality of scorelines and a face center and a rear surface. A minimum striking wall thickness Tmin is no greater than 2.5 min. A thickened central region of the striking wall has a maximum thickness, Tmax, greater than Tmin but no greater than 2.75. A first thickness Tof the striking wall corresponds with a first location spaced toe-ward from the face center by a first distance Dof between 20 mm and 30 mm. A second thickness Tof the striking wall. corresponds with a second location spaced heel-ward from the face center by the first distance Dsuch that Tis greater than Tby no less than 0.05 mm.

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Huntington Beach, CA, United States of America

Anthony Munson