A shim or badge is affixed to a golf club 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 in 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 training device can easily be affixed or mounted to the hitting face of a golf club. The training device may provide auditory, tactile, and directional feedback for the user during practice so that he/she may learn how to strike the ball consistently on the sweet spot. A training device may include several raised surfaces of varying shapes rising from the base surrounding an aperture centered over the sweet spot of the golf club and larger than the surface area contacted by the ball. Use of the training device may reduce the user's variance from the “sweet spot” due to a strike not only along the longitudinal axis but also along the vertical axis. The user avoids impingement with the raised surfaces of the training device by striking the ball within a pre-set tolerance as well as within the boundaries of the aperture.

A putter-type golf club head includes a main body. The main body includes a forward end, a rearward end opposite the forward end, a bottom portion, a top portion opposite the bottom portion, and a male-type hosel component defining a longitudinal axis that is forwardly canted relative to vertical. A face component is secured to the forward end of the main body. The face component includes a first element formed of a resilient material and a second element formed of a rigid material that is secured to the first element. A striking face generally defines a virtual striking face plane and is at least partially formed by the face component.

A method of customizing a golf club head for a user's swing begins by receiving an indication of a characteristic of a user's golf swing. A club face is selected from a plurality of club faces based on the characteristic, and a club body is selected from a plurality of club bodies based on the characteristic. The selected club face and club body are then affixed together to define a golf club head. Each of the plurality of club faces and plurality of club bodies are freely interchangeable.

A golf club with a multi-material face is disclosed herein. More specifically, the golf club head in accordance with the present invention has a multi-material striking face portion that can be comprised out of a metallic outer layer combined with a composite mid-section, all forming a face cup construction that can be connected to an aft body. The composite portion of the multi-material face disclosed in accordance with the present invention may generally have an inter laminar shear strength of greater than about 60 MPa, most preferably greater than about 60 MPa and less than about 145 MPa.

Disclosed herein is a casting cluster for casting a body of a golf club head made of titanium or a titanium alloy. The casting cluster comprises a receptor and a plurality of runners coupled to the receptor and configured to receive molten metal from the receptor. The casting cluster also includes at least twenty-eight main gates. At least two of the main gates are coupled to each of the runners and each main gate is configured to receive molten metal from a corresponding one of the plurality of runners. The casting cluster further comprises at least twenty-eight molds. Each mold of the at least twenty-eight molds is configured to receive molten metal from a corresponding one of the main gates and to cast a body of a golf club head that has a volume of at least 100 cm.sup.3.

Described herein is a golf club head that comprises a body and a strike plate. The body comprises a heel portion, a sole portion, a toe portion, and a top portion. The strike plate comprises an outer peripheral edge and at least a portion of a strike face. Furthermore, the strike plate is welded to the body via a peripheral weld between the outer peripheral edge of the strike plate and the body. The outer peripheral edge of the strike plate comprises at least one welded portion, welded to the body via the peripheral weld, and at least one non-welded portion, not welded to the body.

A ball striking device, such as an iron-type golf club head, includes a face having a ball striking surface and a rear surface, and a body connected to the face. The body has a sole member and a rear cavity defined at least partially by the sole member and the rear surface of the face. The body has an elongated, recessed channel extending within the cavity along a juncture line between the rear surface of the face and the sole member. Additionally, the head is formed in part by a face member having a first leg forming at least a major portion of the face and a second leg extending rearwardly from a bottom end of the first leg and forming at least a portion of the sole member. The head may further be formed by a body member connected to the face member.

Golf club heads are described herein, and in one embodiment including a body with an exterior surface defining a first body volume of at least about 400 cm.sup.3. The body has a bottom portion, a top portion, a front portion, and a back portion. A face positioned at the front portion of the body and is configured to receive an impact. A top portion silhouette profile located along a perimeter of the top portion is further described. The top portion silhouette profile defines the outer bounds of the top portion in an X-direction and Y-direction. At least one indentation can be located on the bottom portion below the crown silhouette profile. The removal of the at least one indentation from the bottom portion can create a second body volume that is at least 12 cm.sup.3 larger than the first body volume.

A putter is described. The putter includes a composite putter head having a high moment of inertia. The putter also includes a putter head face connected to the composite putter head. The putter further includes a hosel for mounting to a putter shaft. The putter also includes a plurality of sole weights mounted in a sole of the composite putter head.