A wood-style golf club head having a variable thickness face, a plurality of linear face markings including at least one above and below face center, and face permanent indicia including at least two letters located at least partially on a face toe portion of the face, along with unique relationships to emphasize the contrast of some elements and reduce the contrast of other elements, including a significant contrast between the linear face markings and the face, and a controlled contrast between the face and the face permanent indicia.

A golf club head including a striking face; a periphery portion surrounding and extending rearwards from the striking face; wherein the striking face comprises a front surface configured to strike a golf ball and a rear surface opposite the front surface; a support arm spaced from the rear surface of the striking face; wherein the support arm abuts the periphery portion at two distinct locations; a damping element residing between the support arm and the rear surface of the striking face; wherein the damping element comprises a front surface in contact with the rear surface of the striking face and a rear surface in contact with the support arm.

A shim or badge is affixed to a golf cub body to produce a cap-back iron, giving the appearance of a hollow-body iron. In this way, the golf club can be manufactured with the performance benefits of a game improvement iron, while providing the appearance of a blade, player's iron, and/or a hollow-body iron. For example, by using a lightweight and rigid shim or badge to close a cavity opening and extend into the toe portion of the golf club body, the golf club head can provide increased stiffness in the topline, while lowering CG. Various shim or badge arrangements and materials can be used, and a filler material and/or damper can be included within the cavity to improve sound and feel, while minimizing loss in COR.

A shim or badge is affixed to a golf cub body to produce a cap-back iron, giving the appearance of a hollow-body iron. In this way, the golf club can be manufactured with the performance benefits of a game improvement iron, while providing the appearance of a blade, player's iron, and/or a hollow-body iron. For example, by using a lightweight and rigid shim or badge to close a cavity opening in the golf club body, the golf club head can provide increased stiffness in the topline, while maintaining a low CG. Various shim or badge arrangements and materials can be used, and a filler material and/or damper can be included within the cavity to improve sound and feel, while minimizing loss in COR.

A golf club head has a striking face with a plurality of scorelines including a first scoreline and a second scoreline adjacent thereto. The striking face also has a plurality of auxiliary grooves each spaced from the scorelines. In a first imaginary vertical plane, a first path is formed by a first intersection between the first imaginary vertical plane and the striking face, and the auxiliary grooves have a first concentration no less than 0.17 measured between the first and second scorelines. A second imaginary vertical plane is horizontally spaced from the first imaginary plane. A second path is formed in the second imaginary vertical plane by a second intersection between the second imaginary vertical plane and the striking face. The auxiliary grooves in the second imaginary vertical plane have a second concentration that is different from the first concentration measured between the first and second scorelines.

A correlated set of golf club heads comprises a first and second golf club head. Each club head has a striking face, a rear surface, a top portion, a sole portion, a toe portion, a heel portion, and a loft. The striking face has a first plurality of scorelines defining a scoreline heel-ward extent and a scoreline toe-ward extent. The plurality of scorelines comprises a scoreline length LS1 being the lateral distance between the heel-ward extent and the toe-ward extent. The loft of the second golf club head is greater than that of the first golf club head. The scoreline length LS2 of the second golf club head differs from that of the first scoreline length LS1.

A putter type golf club head having a frontal ball striking face that engages and grips a golf ball during the execution of a putting stroke to direct the golf ball in a straight line toward the intended target. The face includes a plurality of ball striking land areas and a plurality of adjacent and complimentary recessed channels that form an opening toward and on either side of the midpoint of the hitting area of the face. The ball contact areas are smaller than the adjacent recessed channels at the midpoint of the hitting area of the face. Gripping edges at the interface of the land areas and the recessed channels redirect the golf ball toward the intended target when the ball is miss hit away from the midpoint of the face.

Sporting articles are provided that have improved aerodynamics, including a golf club. The golf club includes a head, the head including a plurality of dimples, configured to decrease drag of the head when swung by the user, and a chamber defined in the head, the chamber including one or more weights movable within the chamber to adjust a balance of the golf club head. The movable weights enable adjustments to be made to compensate for changes in characteristics of the golf club associated with the increased aerodynamic efficiency.

Examples of golf club heads and methods to manufacture golf club heads are generally described herein. In one example, a putter-type golf club head may include a body portion. The body portion may include a toe portion, a heel portion, a front portion, a rear portion, a top portion, a sole portion, and a weight port. The weight port may have a threaded section and an unthreaded section. A first weight portion may be coupled to the unthreaded section by an epoxy or other adhesive. A second weight portion may be threadingly fastened to the threaded section. The first weight portion may include a central through-bore to provide at least one of air relief or relief for the epoxy or other adhesive. Other examples may be described and claimed.

Embodiments of an iron-type golf club head comprising a high moment of inertia and a damping system. The damping system includes an insert covering a lower portion of the back face and a badge covering an upper portion of the back face. The damping system covers a large proportion of the back face and provides a club head with desirable sound and feel characteristics.