The present invention relates to a golf club head, and in particular to an arrangement for a sole of the golf club head.
Conventionally, a pitching wedge or a sand wedge has a sole surface which forms only a simple uniform surface and, therefore, when hitting a golf ball, the pitching or sand wedge may bounce up on the ground or cannot strike properly deep into the sands, that is, such pitching or sand wedge may top the ball and thus it is difficult to control the ball by use of such conventional pitching or sand wedge.
To solve the above problems, there has been proposed a golf club head the sole surface of which has such a shape as disclosed in U.S. Patent publication No. 3,810,631, that is, in the sole surface thereof, there is formed a recess which extends along the longitudinal direction thereof from the toe side to the heel side thereof. However, the golf club head having this shape, in contrast to the previously described golf club head, tends to hit too deep into the ground or into the sands, which also makes it difficult to control the ball.
In view of the above circumstances, in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 51-88356 of Showa, there is disclosed a golf club head in which there are formed recesses respectively in the two sides of the sole surface of the golf club head with the substantially central portion thereof excluded, in order to prevent the golf club head from bouncing up on the ground or entering deeply into the ground when hitting a golf ball. That is, the contact area of the sole surface of the golf club head is reduced to thereby prevent the golf club head from bouncing up on the ground and at the same time the central portion of the sole surface is left as it is to thereby prevent the golf club head from striking too deeply into the ground.
Each of the recesses formed in the sole surface of the golf club head disclosed in the above-mentioned Japanese Utility Model Publication has a semi-circular section and, the two recesses include on their respective sole surface central portion sides wall surfaces which are formed so as to extend in mutually opposed directions toward the toe and heel portions. This prevents the golf club head from moving in the toe or heel direction when hitting a golf ball, so that a golfer using this golf club is able to strike the ball straight.
However, an advanced golf player, according to conditions, must use properly a straight ball, a hook ball, and a slice ball intentionally. The above-mentioned wall surfaces receive resistance from the ground, which resistance provides an obstacle to the proper use of various ways of ball hitting.