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 golf club head including a striking face, a periphery portion surrounding and extending rearwards from the striking face, a damping element including a front surface and a rear surface, the rear surface of the damping element opposite the front surface of the damping element, wherein the striking face comprises a first portion having a substantially constant thickness, wherein the front surface of the damping element comprises a geometric center, wherein the golf club head includes additional damping structures and materials to achieve desired acoustic characteristics.

Embodiments of golf club heads, golf clubs, and methods to manufacture golf club heads and golf clubs are generally described herein. In one example, a golf club head includes a hollow body portion including a material having a first density and an interior cavity. A face pocket portion may be in the first interior cavity at or proximate to the front portion of the body portion, define a second interior cavity, and at least partially enclose the first interior cavity. A face portion is coupled to the front portion to enclose the second interior cavity. A first filler material may be injected into the first interior cavity from an external port. A second filler material may fill the second interior cavity. The first filler material and the second filler material may have at least one different physical property. Other examples and embodiments may be described and claimed.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a golf club head being lightweight and having a high strength. A head 2 includes a face 4, a sole 8, and a crown 6. The face 4 includes a face surface fs and a face back surface fr. A plurality of projections (A) are provided on the face back surface fr. The projections (A) are point-like in a planar view. An optional first direction and a second direction orthogonal to the first direction are defined in the planar view. Preferably, arrangement regularity of the projections (A) in the second direction is higher than arrangement regularity of the projections (A) in the first direction. Preferably, the first direction is a longitudinal direction; and the second direction is a lateral direction.

A golf club head including a face element having a face surface, a rear surface, and a reinforcement device with a reinforcement element that extends out from the rear surface of the face element toward a rear end and away from a front end of a golf club head. The reinforcement element includes a looped rib having an outer perimeter surface and an inner perimeter surface. The face surface is nearer to the rear surface proximal to the face center than proximal to the face perimeter. The outer perimeter surface of the reinforcement element is filleted with the rear surface.

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.

Methods of manufacturing a golf club head comprising one or more stiffening members proximate the face, and particularly solid rods or a plate with one or more cutouts, is disclosed herein. One method comprises the steps of preparing a wax mold of a golf club head including a plate stiffening member with excess material, casting the golf club head, and machining away the excess material. Another method comprises the steps of casting a golf club body, providing a plate stiffening member, providing a face component such as a face cup, tack welding the plate stiffening member and the face component to the golf club body, and welding these parts together.

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 golf club head (100) includes a face section (1), a crown section (2), a sole section (3), a heel section (4), and a toe section (5). A hollow section separated from the outside is formed inside the golf club head (100). The face section (1) includes, on a back surface, a first thick section (11) disposed at the center in a toe-heel direction going from the toe section (5) to the heel section (4), a second thick section (12) disposed closer to the sole section (3) than the first thick section (11), and a thin section (13) thinner than the first thick section (11) and the second thick section (12) and disposed so as to surround the entire periphery of the first thick section (11) and the entire periphery of the second thick section (12). The first thick section (11) has a first portion (11A) disposed substantially at the center in both the toe-heel direction and a crown-sole direction going from the crown section (2) to the sole section (3) and having a longitudinal direction coincident with the toe-heel direction, and a second portion (11B) protruding from a part at the center of the first portion (11A) in the longitudinal direction toward the crown section (2).

Some embodiments include club heads having reinforced club head faces. In one example, the club face comprises a reinforcement element such as a looped rib positioned on a rear surface of the club face to provide reinforcement. The club head further comprises an undercut that extends along the entire perimeter of the club face to provide increased club face bending. The combination of the reinforcement element and the undercut reinforces the club head while permitting the club face to bend. Other embodiments of related club heads and methods are also disclosed.