Golf club head

Abstract

A golf club head having good forgiveness and playability includes a body having an interior cavity, favorable aerodynamic profile and favorable CG location. The club head may include a crown having a peripheral edge located low relative to a ground plane, stepped down crown and overlying shroud, generally flat sole, inverted aft skirt section, aft cavity, cantilevered lightweight shroud, and/or two interior chambers, one of which may have an external opening.

We therefore claim as our invention all that comes within the scope and spirit of these claims: 
     
         1 - 20 . (canceled) 
     
     
         21 . A golf club comprising:
 a golf club shaft having a lower end portion;   a club head having a leading edge, a lower trailing edge located below a golf club head center of gravity, an upper trailing edge located above the golf club head center of gravity, an upper portion, a lower portion, a heel portion, a toe portion, a striking face defining a forward portion of the club head, a rear portion opposite the striking face, and a golf club shaft receiving portion positioned in the heel portion and configured to receive the golf club shaft, the golf club shaft receiving portion comprising an upper shaft opening in the upper portion of the club head and a lower shaft opening in the lower portion of the club head, with the club head defining an interior cavity, wherein:   the upper portion is defined as a portion of the club head located above a peripheral outline of the club head as viewed from a top-down direction;   the lower portion is defined as a portion of the club head extending upwards from a lowest point of the club head when in a normal address position, to the peripheral outline of the club head;   the striking face including a geometric center defining an origin of a coordinate system when the club head is at a normal address position, the coordinate system including:   an x-axis being tangent to the striking face at the origin and parallel to a ground plane, wherein the x-axis extends in a positive direction from the origin to the heel portion of the club head,   a y-axis intersecting the origin being parallel to the ground plane and orthogonal to the x-axis, wherein the y-axis extends in a positive direction from the origin to the rear portion of the club head, and   a z-axis intersecting the origin being orthogonal to both the x-axis and the y-axis, wherein the z-axis extends in a positive direction from the origin to the upper portion of the club head, wherein:   the heel portion extends towards, and includes, the golf club shaft receiving portion from a y-z plane passing through the origin, and   the toe portion is defined as a portion of the club head extending from the y-z plane in a direction opposite the heel portion;   a head-shaft connection assembly comprising a sleeve attached to the lower end portion of the golf club shaft and the head-shaft connection assembly is operable to selectively adjust at least one of a loft angle or lie angle of the golf club formed when the club head is attached to the golf club shaft via the head-shaft connection assembly;   wherein a majority of the upper portion is formed of a non-metal material;   wherein the lower portion includes a center sole portion extending rearwardly from a forward portion of the club head located forward of a mid-section of the club head to a rearward portion of the club head located rearward of the mid-section of the club head, wherein the center sole portion includes the lower trailing edge;   wherein the lower portion includes a lower heel region located heelward of the center sole portion and raised relative to the center sole portion, wherein at least a portion of the lower heel region is formed of a non-metal material;   wherein the lower portion includes a lower toe region located toeward of the center sole portion and raised relative to the center sole portion, wherein at least a portion of the lower toe region is formed of a non-metal material;   wherein the lower portion includes a lower rear region located rearward of the center sole portion and raised relative to the center sole portion;   wherein the center sole portion includes a heel side wall connecting the center sole portion to the raised lower heel region;   wherein the center sole portion includes a toe side wall connecting the center sole portion to the raised lower toe region;   wherein the center sole portion includes a rear wall connecting the center sole portion to the raised lower rear region;   at least one weight configured to engage an exterior portion of the club head proximate the lower trailing edge;   wherein the upper portion includes an upper heel region located heelward of the y-z plane, wherein at least a portion of the upper heel region is formed of a non-metal material;   wherein the upper portion includes an upper toe region located toeward of the y-z plane, wherein at least a portion of the upper toe region is formed of a non-metal material;   a lower recessed portion in the lower portion of the club head positioned proximate to the lower shaft opening and at least partially surrounding the lower shaft opening, the lower shaft opening in communication with the upper shaft opening and the lower recessed portion having one or more walls extending into the interior cavity of the club head.   
     
     
         22 . The golf club of  claim 21 , wherein the non-metal upper heel region and the non-metal lower heel region are formed from carbon fiber reinforced polymer material. 
     
     
         23 . The golf club of  claim 21 , wherein the non-metal upper toe region and the non-metal lower toe region are formed from carbon fiber reinforced polymer material. 
     
     
         24 . The golf club of  claim 21 , wherein the upper heel region and the lower heel region are separately formed from the center sole portion. 
     
     
         25 . The golf club of  claim 21 , wherein the upper heel region and the lower heel region are formed from a different material than the center sole portion. 
     
     
         26 . The golf club of  claim 21 , wherein the non-metal upper heel region and the non-metal upper toe region are contiguous. 
     
     
         27 . The golf club of  claim 21 , wherein the at least one weight engages a weight port located on the center sole portion and the weight port has a recessed ledge that surrounds a threaded aperture, and a head portion of the at least one weight engages the recessed ledge and at least a portion of the at least one weight engages the threaded aperture. 
     
     
         28 . The golf club of  claim 21 , wherein at least a portion of the lower rear region is formed of a non-metal material 
     
     
         29 . The golf club of  claim 21 , wherein the upper trailing edge and a majority of the upper portion are formed of a non-metal material. 
     
     
         30 . The golf club of  claim 21 , wherein the rear wall of the center sole portion has a height measured vertically along the z-axis and the height of the rear wall is greater than a length of the at least one weight measured from a first end of the at least one weight to a second end of the at least one weight along a central axis of the at least one weight. 
     
     
         31 . The golf club of  claim 21 , wherein the at least one weight engages a weight port located on the center sole portion and the weight port has a recessed ledge that surrounds a threaded aperture, and a head portion of the at least one weight engages the recessed ledge and a shaft portion of the at least one weight engages the threaded aperture and the shaft portion has at least four threads that engage the threaded aperture. 
     
     
         32 . The golf club of  claim 21 , wherein the upper and lower toe regions are separately formed from the center sole portion. 
     
     
         33 . The golf club of  claim 21 , wherein a composite insert forms the upper and lower toe regions. 
     
     
         34 . The golf club of  claim 21 , wherein the club head has a CG projection located on the striking face and the CG projection is no more than 4 mm above the geometric center of the striking face. 
     
     
         35 . The golf club of  claim 21 , wherein the club head has an above ground center-of-gravity location Z-up measured in mm, and Z-up is no less than 20 mm and no more than 31 mm. 
     
     
         36 . The golf club of  claim 21 , wherein the club head has a moment of inertia about a center-of-gravity z-axis Izz measured in kg-mm 2  and Izz is between 300 to 600 kg·mm 2 . 
     
     
         37 . The golf club of  claim 21 , wherein the club head has a moment of inertia about a center-of-gravity x-axis Ixx measured in kg-mm 2  and Ixx is between 200 to 450 kg·mm 2 . 
     
     
         38 . The golf club of  claim 21 , further comprising a second weight attached to the lower portion of the club head at a position forward of the center of gravity and heelward of the first weight. 
     
     
         39 . A golf club comprising:
 a golf club shaft having a lower end portion;   a club head having a leading edge, a lower trailing edge located below a golf club head center of gravity, an upper trailing edge located above the golf club head center of gravity, an upper portion, a lower portion, a heel portion, a toe portion, a striking face defining a forward portion of the club head, a rear portion opposite the striking face, and a golf club shaft receiving portion positioned in the heel portion and configured to receive the golf club shaft, the golf club shaft receiving portion comprising an upper shaft opening in the upper portion of the club head and a lower shaft opening in the lower portion of the club head, with the club head defining an interior cavity, wherein:   the upper portion is defined as a portion of the club head located above a peripheral outline of the club head as viewed from a top-down direction;   the lower portion is defined as a portion of the club head extending upwards from a lowest point of the club head when in a normal address position, to the peripheral outline of the club head;   the striking face including a geometric center defining an origin of a coordinate system when the club head is at a normal address position, the coordinate system including:   an x-axis being tangent to the striking face at the origin and parallel to a ground plane, wherein the x-axis extends in a positive direction from the origin to the heel portion of the club head,   a y-axis intersecting the origin being parallel to the ground plane and orthogonal to the x-axis, wherein the y-axis extends in a positive direction from the origin to the rear portion of the club head, and   a z-axis intersecting the origin being orthogonal to both the x-axis and the y-axis, wherein the z-axis extends in a positive direction from the origin to the upper portion of the club head, wherein:   the heel portion extends towards, and includes, the golf club shaft receiving portion from a y-z plane passing through the origin, and   the toe portion is defined as a portion of the club head extending from the y-z plane in a direction opposite the heel portion;   a head-shaft connection assembly comprising a sleeve attached to the lower end portion of the golf club shaft and the head-shaft connection assembly is operable to selectively adjust at least one of a loft angle or lie angle of the golf club formed when the club head is attached to the golf club shaft via the head-shaft connection assembly;   wherein a majority of the upper portion is formed of a non-metal material;   wherein the lower portion includes a center sole portion extending rearwardly from a forward portion of the club head located forward of a mid-section of the club head to a rearward portion of the club head located rearward of the mid-section of the club head, wherein the center sole portion includes the lower trailing edge;   wherein the lower portion includes a lower heel region located heelward of the center sole portion and raised relative to the center sole portion, wherein at least a portion of the lower heel region is formed of a non-metal material;   wherein the lower portion includes a lower toe region located toeward of the center sole portion and raised relative to the center sole portion, wherein at least a portion of the lower toe region is formed of a non-metal material;   wherein the lower portion includes a lower rear region located rearward of the center sole portion and raised relative to the center sole portion;   wherein the center sole portion includes a heel side wall connecting the center sole portion to the raised lower heel region;   wherein the center sole portion includes a toe side wall connecting the center sole portion to the raised lower toe region;   wherein the center sole portion includes a rear wall connecting the center sole portion to the raised lower rear region;   a first weight configured to engage an exterior portion of the club head proximate the lower trailing edge;   a second weight attached to the lower portion of the club head at a position forward of the center of gravity and heelward of the first weight;   wherein the upper portion includes an upper heel region located heelward of the y-z plane, wherein at least a portion of the upper heel region is formed of a non-metal material;   wherein the upper portion includes an upper toe region located toeward of the y-z plane, wherein at least a portion of the upper toe region is formed of a non-metal material;   a lower recessed portion in the lower portion of the club head positioned proximate to the lower shaft opening and at least partially surrounding the lower shaft opening, the lower shaft opening in communication with the upper shaft opening and the lower recessed portion having one or more walls extending into the interior cavity of the club head;   wherein a majority of the upper portion is formed of a non-metal material.