Fairway wood golf club

Abstract

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.

What is claimed is: 
     
         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 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.   
     
     
         2 . The golf club head of  claim 1 , wherein said striking face further comprises a sole return. 
     
     
         3 . The golf club head of  claim 2 , where said sole return has a sole return thickness of between about 0.8 mm to about 1.0 mm. 
     
     
         4 . The golf club head of  claim 3 , wherein said sole return thickness is between about 0.85 mm to about 0.95 mm. 
     
     
         5 . The golf club head of  claim 1 , wherein said golf club head has a peak crown height of between about 36 mm to about 40 mm. 
     
     
         6 . The golf club head of  claim 5 , wherein said peak crown height is between about 37 mm to about 39 mm. 
     
     
         7 . The golf club head of  claim 6 , wherein said peak crown height is about 38 mm. 
     
     
         8 . The golf club head of  claim 1 , wherein said golf club head has a Sole Return Distance to Thickness Ratio of between about 9 to about 13.75, said Sole Return Distance to Thickness Ratio defined as: 
       
         
           
             
               
                 Sole 
                 ⁢ 
                     
                 Return 
                 ⁢ 
                     
                 Distance 
                 ⁢ 
                     
                 to 
                 ⁢ 
                     
                 Thickness 
                 ⁢ 
                     
                 Ratio 
               
               = 
               
                 
                   
                     Sole 
                     ⁢ 
                         
                     Return 
                     ⁢ 
                         
                     Distance 
                     ⁢ 
                        
                     
                       ( 
                       
                         D 
                         R 
                       
                       ) 
                     
                   
                   
                     Sole 
                     ⁢ 
                         
                     Return 
                     ⁢ 
                         
                     Thickness 
                     ⁢ 
                        
                     
                       ( 
                       
                         T 
                         R 
                       
                       ) 
                     
                   
                 
                 . 
               
             
           
         
       
     
     
         9 . The golf club head of  claim 8 , wherein said Sole Return Distance to Thickness Ratio is between about 10 to about 12.35. 
     
     
         10 . The golf club head of  claim 9 , wherein said Sole Return Distance to Thickness Ratio is about 11. 
     
     
         11 . The golf club head of  claim 1 , wherein a mass of said golf club head below an X-Z plane set at a vertical height from said ground plane equal to 20% of said peak crown height measurement is greater than about 43% of a total mass of said golf club head. 
     
     
         12 . The golf club head of  claim 11 , wherein a mass of said golf club head below an X-Z plane set at a vertical height from said ground plane equal to 15% of said peak crown height measurement is greater than about 32% of a total mass of said golf club head. 
     
     
         13 . The golf club head of  claim 12 , wherein a mass of said golf club head below an X-Z plane set at a vertical height from said ground plane equal to 10% of said peak crown height measurement is greater than about 17% of a total mass of said golf club head. 
     
     
         14 . 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 further comprises a sole return, and   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 a mass of said golf club head below an X-Z plane set at a vertical height from a ground plane equal to 20% of a peak crown height measurement is greater than about 43% of a total mass of said golf club head.   
     
     
         15 . The golf club head of  claim 14 , wherein said golf club head has a peak crown height of greater than about 35.0 mm. 
     
     
         16 . The golf club head of  claim 15 , wherein said golf club head has a ground to top face radius measurement of greater than or equal to about 31.0 mm. 
     
     
         17 . The golf club head of  claim 16 , wherein said golf club head has a CG-Yg, being a distance from a ground plane to said CG along said Y-axis, of less than about 16.0 mm. 
     
     
         18 . The golf club head of  claim 17 , wherein said golf club head has a ΔYccg of between about 22.0 mm and about 28.0 mm, said ΔYccg defined by the equation below:
   ΔYccg=Peak Crown Height (mm)−CG-Yg (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 further comprises a sole return, and   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 a mass of said golf club head below an X-Z plane set at a vertical height from a ground plane equal to 15% of a peak crown height measurement is greater than about 32% of a total mass of said golf club head.   
     
     
         20 . The golf club head of  claim 19 , wherein a mass of said golf club head below an X-Z plane set at a vertical height from said ground plane equal to 10% of said peak crown height measurement is greater than about 17% of a total mass of said golf club head.