US3059926A - Set of golf clubs - Google Patents

Description

Oct. 23, 1962 Filed July 25. 1960 J. JOHNSTONE SET OF GOLF CLUBS 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 My? W; m:

Inventor Attorney Oct. 23, 1962 J. JOHNSTONE SET OF GOLF CLUBS 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 25, 1960 In ventor Attorney Oct. 23, 1962 J. JOHNSTONE 3,059,926

SET OF GOLF CLUBS Filed July 25, 1960 s Sheets-Sheet 5 W5,- I My: T

In ventor Attorbe y ,7 3,059,926 Patented Oct. 23, 1962 free 3,059,926 SET 9F GULF CLUBS James Johnstone, 26 Haddon St., Toronto, Ontario, Canada Filed July 25, 1960, Ser. No. 45,154 2 Claims. (Cl. 273-77) This invention relates to golf clubs and in particular to a set of golf clubs and a method of manufacture thereof in which the weight of the head of each club is distributed in a novel manner.

When playing the game of golf, it is desirable that a player should have control over the flight of the ball beyond merely striking the ball to drive it in a forward direction. This control over the flight of the ball is achieved by imparting a controlled rotation or spin to the ball at the moment of its impact with the head of the club by which it is struck. An expert golfer, after many years of practice, can manipulate a golf club by rotating the position of his hands on the shaft of the club in such a manner that when the head of the club strikes the ball, the desired rotation or spin is imparted to the ball to cause it to travel along the desired path and come to rest at the desired point. The controlled rotation or spin may be imparted to the ball in such a manner as to have varying and controlled effects. For example, an expert golfer, by so manipulating a golf club, can cause a golf ball to slice, i.e., veer to the right from a straight line path, or to hook, i.e. veer to the left from a straight line path. Controlled slicing is achieved by imparting to a golf ball substantial clockwise (when looking down on the ball) rotation in a horizontal plane. Controlled hooking is achieved by imparting to a golf ball substantial counter-clockwise rotation (when looking down on the ball) in a horizontal plane. The ability to effect a controlled slice or hook is most useful when a player is playing on a golf course with numerous dogs-legs and obstructions.

By manipulating a golf club, an expert golfer also can cause a golf ball to roll for a longer distance than normal, or stop short, in golfing terminology, bite-in, on contact with the ground. Long distance rolls are achieved by imparting to a golf ball substantial clockwise (when looking at the ball from the right-hand side) rotation in a vertical plane. Biting-in is achieved by imparting to a golf ball substantial counter-clockwise (when looking at the ball from the right-hand side) rotation in a vertical plane. In the latter case some experts have so perfected shots with irons such as the Nos. 8 and 9 irons and the wedge, and particularly the latter two, that they can cause the ball to have so much counter-clockwise rotation in the vertical plane that, on striking the ground, the ball actually rolls back for a short distance in a direction opposite to that in which the ball travelled when in flight.

Of course, expert golfers also can manipulate a golf club so as to combine controlled slicing or hooking with controlled clockwise or counter-clockwise rotation of a golf ball in a vertical plane.

The ability to impart to a golf ball substantial clockwise rotation in a vertical plane is especially useful in connection with the use of the long irons such as the Nos. 2, 3 and 4 irons, since the golf ball will roll for long distances on striking the ground and increase the range of these clubs, as is desirable. The ability to impart to a golf ball substantial counter-clockwise rotation in a vertical plane is especially useful in connection with the use of the short irons such as the Nos. 7, 8 and 9 and the wedge, since the golf ball will bite-in on striking the ground, thereby permitting a golfer to choose the proper iron for the proper distance without fear that he will overshoot the mark because of the ball rolling along the ground past the mark. Indeed, because of fear of such an occurrence, many golfers deliberately choke-up on the short irons in an attempt to cause the ball to hit the ground short of the mark and roll up to the mark. In most cases this system fails to work, and certainly fails to Work consistently. It is always desirable that a golfer should use each club in substantially the same manner each time he uses the club, and choking-up or reducing the back-swing is not desirable, except in certain cases.

Accordingly, it is an important object of my invention to provide a set of golf clubs which will permit an average golfer, without substantial manipulation of the clubs by rotation of his hands on the shaft of the clubs or otherwise, as the experts do, to impart to a golf ball substantial clockwise or counter-clockwise rotation (when looking at the golf ball from the right-hand side) in a vertical plane so as to increase the distance of a shot played from the long irons or cause a ball hit by a short iron to bite in respectively.

It is another important object of my invention to provide a set of golf clubs which will permit an expert golfer to achieve the effects noted in the previous paragraph without substantial manipulation of the golf clubs by rotation of his hands on the shaft of the clubs or otherwise.

It has been found to be a common tendency for the average golfer to slice with a No. 2 iron. This tendency progressively decreases in his use of the Nos. 3, 4 and 5 irons, until it no longer exists with the No. 5 or No. 6 irons. Progressing on through the Nos. 7, 8 and 9 irons, the tendency continues to be modified, now becoming a progressively greater hook.

Accordingly, another important object of my invention is to provide a set of golf clubs which compensates to some extent for the aforementioned slicing and hooking of an average golfer.

Briefly, the aforementioned objects and advantages of my invention are obtained with a set of golf clubs each having a head to which a shaft is secured by means of a hosel integral with the head, the clubs being arranged in a numbered series having heads of progressively increasing loft angles, the first and last clubs in the series having numbers and head loft angles which are respectively minima and maxima, the number and head loft angle of each intermediate club in the series being larger than the number and head loft angle of the next preceding club in the series and smaller than the number and head loft angle of the next succeeding club in the series, the club having the smallest head loft angle having the centre of gravity of its head located between the percussion point and the toe of the club, the successive clubs in the series having the centres of gravity of their heads located progressively farther from the toe of the club head.

It is important to note that average golfers can control the distance for each club but have not the control over the ball upon its impact with the ground. A set of clubs embodying my invention provides this control automatically for the average golfer as the clockwise rotation in the vertical plane permits the golfer to obtain longer distance with the long range irons due to the roll obtained upon the impact of the ball with the ground and, more important, he can control the roll of the ball on the shorter range irons by the counter-clockwise rotation in the vertical plane which, upon impact of the ball with the ground, will quickly stop the ball from further forward advancement in the line of flight.

In order to avoid confusion the following terms will have, in the specification and the claims, the meanings attached to them in the following list of definitions.

A golf club comprises three main parts namely a shaft, a hosel and a head. The head of the golf club is that portion which extends laterally from the shaft at one end thereof. The hosel is that portion of the club integral with the head and to which the shaft is attached.

The toe of the club head is that portion of the head remote from the hosel.

The heel of the club head is that portion of the head adjacent the hosel.

The sole of the club head is that edge of the head which lies adjacent the ground when the club is in the playing position.

The face of the club head is that area of the head with which the ball is struck.

The loft of the club head is the angle which the face of the club head makes with a vertical line at the point of impact of the club with the ball when the club is in the ideal position for the impact to take place.

The percussion point is that point upon the face of the, club at which the ball should be struck to produce the ideal shot.

Golf clubs, and in particular the clubs with which this invention is primarily concerned, namely those clubs known as the irons, are usually manufactured in a set and bear numbers from 1 to 9, although in modern practice the No. 1 iron is seldom used and seldom manufactured. Accordingly, in the remainder of this specification the set of golf clubs will be discussed and described as comprising numbers from 2 to 9 inclusive although it is to be appreciated that the principle of the invention is applicable to sets of clubs containing the No. 1 and No. 10 (the wedge) clubs as well, and as well to the four wooden clubs employed in the game of golf.

The loft on the face of the clubs increases from the No. 2 club progressively through to the No. 9 club. The increase in loft causes the ball to rise to a greater height during its flight when struck by the club, and accordingly, decreases the horizontal distance over which the ball travels. The approximate maximum distances which may be obtained by average golfers with the various clubs are set out in the table below.

Distance obtained,

Type of club: yards No. 2 180-190 No. 3 165-175 No. 4 150-160 No. 5 140-150 No. 6 130-140 No. 7 125-135 No. 8 120-130 No. 9 110-115 It should be understood that for certain shots particularly with the Nos. 8 and 9 irons, the golfer may wish to drive the ball for a shorter distance than those shown in the above table. The advantages of the present invention are also obtained for such shorter shots as will more fully appear from the following description.

From the above table it will be observed that the No. 2 iron is the iron club which is designed to produce the longest shot. Accordingly, it is desirable that when a golf ball is hit by a No. 2 iron, a clockwise (when looking at the ball from the right-hand side) rotation in a vertical plane be imparted to it which will assist the ball in spinning forward when it strikes the ground, thereby obtaining a further roll than a ball rotating in a counterclockwise direction. The No. 3 iron is designed to drive the ball for a somewhat shorter distance and, accordingly, the clockwise rotation in the vertical plane produced by the impact need not be quite as great. Those clubs in the middle range need not produce either a clockwise or a counter-clockwise spin in the vertical plane on the ball at the point of impact since they are designed for medium distances, although every ball struck with any club has either a clockwise or counter-clockwise rotation to some limited degree. The Nos. 7, 8 and 9 clubs are designed to drive the ball for the shortest distance and, accordingly, it is desirable that when these clubs are used the ball have imparted to it a counter-clockwise rotation in the vertical plane which will enable it to maintain its altitude and to stop shortly after impact with the earth rather than rolling on for some distance as with a clockwise rotation.

In order to produce a counter-clockwise rotation or a clockwise rotation in a vertical plane, an expert golfer manipulates the club at the moment of impact, while the ball is still compressed on the face of the club due to the impact, to cause either the heel or the toe respectively of the club to advance slightly, thereby causing the face of the club to be drawn under or over, respectively, the ball to produce the desired rotation. If it is desired to produce a considerable clockwise rotation in a vertical plane, the club head will be manipulated by rolling the hands in a counter-clockwise direction to a greater extent than when it is desired to produce only a moderate clockwise rotation on the ball. Similarly, when it is desired to produce a strong counter-clockwise rotation in a vertical plane, the club will be manipulated by rotating the hands in a clockwise manner to a greater extent than when only a weak under or clockwise rotation is desired.

From the above description it will be seen that in a set of golf clubs the No. 2 golf club should produce the strongest clockwise rotation in a vertical plane when view ing the golf ball from the right-hand side, the clockwise rotation reducing in magnitude through the Nos. 3 and 4 clubs. The Nos. 5 and 6 clubs, being designed for medium distances, need produce neither clockwise or counter-clockwise rotation, and the Nos. 7, 8 and 9 clubs being designed for shorter distances should produce a counter-clockwise rotation of the ball in a vertical plane when the ball is struck, the No. 9 club producing the strongest counter-clockwise rotation and the Nos. 8 and 7 clubs producing respectively a smaller and still smaller counter-clockwise rotation.

Since the advancing of the toe or the heel of the club head over the remainder of the club head at the instant of impact produces the clockwise or counter-clockwise rotation respectively in a vertical plane, it has been found that if the centre of gravity of the club head, as distinct from the club as a whole, is positioned in an appropriate location relative to the percussion point, the desired result will be obtained automatically. Moreover, by positioning the centres of gravity of club heads of a set of golf clubs in accordance with my invention, the aforementioned tendency of average golfers to slice with the long irons and hook with the short irons will be reduced considerably.

My invention is best understood by considering what happens to a golf ball when struck with a No. 2 iron and a No. 9 iron of a set of golf clubs embodying my invention.

The No. 2 iron of a set of golf clubs embodying my invention has the centre of gravity of its head located adjacent the toe of the club and between the toe of the club and the percussion point. Thus, when the club is swung, the momentum of the toe of the club will be greater than the momentum of the heel of the club, and, at the moment of impact with the ball, the toe of the club will not be slowed down to the same extent as the heel. Therefore, while the ball is compressed on the face of the club due to the impact, the toe of the club will advance ahead of the remainder of the club head, the club pivoting along the axis of the hosel and shaft thereof. This action draws the face of the club over the golf ball and imparts to the ball a clockwise rotation (when viewing the golf ball from the right-hand side) in a vertical plane. In addition, this action also draws the face of the golf club across the ball in such a manner that the club imparts to the ball a counterclockwise rotation (when looking down on the ball in a horizontal plane. This counter-clockwise rotation in a horizontal plane tends to produce a hook, which, it will be recalled, is a deviation of the ball to the left from a straight line. Since the average golfer tends to slice with a No. 2 iron, i.e. cause the ball to deviate to the right of a straight line, it will be apparent that a No. 2 iron tends to compensate for slicing by imparting to the ball counter-clockwise rotation in a horizontal plane. It should be noted, however, that the amount of counterclockwise rotation so imparted is not so great as to be harmful to a golfer who normally hits a straight ball. Thus it will be seen that my No. 2 iron imparts to a ball clockwise rotation in a vertical plane when viewing the ball from the right-hand side, this rotation causing the ball to roll for longer distances than are attainable with conventional No. 2 irons. At the same time my No. 2 iron imparts to a ball counter-clockwise rotation in a horizontal plane when looking down on the ball. The resultant rotation of the ball is neither in a vertical nor a horizontal plane but is in a plane inclined with respect to the horizontal and vertical planes. This resultant rotation is referred to hereinafter as over spin.

The No. 9 iron of a set of golf clubs embodying my invention has the centre of gravity of its head located adjacent the heel of the club and between the heel of the club and the percussion point. Thus, when the club is swung, the momentum of the heel of the club will be greater than the momentum of the toe of the club, and, at the moment of impact with the ball, the heel of the club will not be slowed down to the same extent as the toe. Therefore, while the ball is compressed on the face of the club due to the impact, the heel of the club will advance ahead of the remainder of the club head, the club pivoting along the axis of the hosel and shaft thereof. This action draws the face of the club under the golf ball and imparts to the ball a counter-clockwise rotation (when viewing the golf ball from the right-hand side) in a vertical plane. In addition, this action also draws the face of the golf club across the ball in such a manner that the club imparts to the ball a clockwise rotation (when looking down on the ball) in a horizontal plane. This clockwise rotation in .a horizontal plane tends to produce a slice, which, it will be recalled, is a deviation of the ball to the right from a straight line. Since the average golfer tends to hook with a No. 9 iron, i.e. cause the ball to deviate to the left of a straight line, it will be apparent that a No. 9 iron tends to compensate for hooking by imparting to the ball clockwise rotation in a horizontal plane. It should be noted, however, that the amount of clockwise rotation so imparted is not so great as to be harmful to a golfer who normally hits a straight ball. Thus it will be seen that my No. 9 iron imparts to a ball counter-clockwise rotation in a vertical plane when viewing the ball from the right-hand side, this rotation causing the ball to bite-in and stop or roll back on striking the ground. At the same time my No. 9 iron imparts to a ball clockwise rotation in a horizontal plane when looking down on the ball. The resultant rotation of the ball is neither in a vertical nor a horizontal plane but is in a plane inclined with respect to the horizontal and vertical planes. This resultant rotation is referred to hereinafter as under spin.

Thus, with a set of golf clubs numbering 2 to 9 inclusive and embodying my invention, the maximum amount of over spin is achieved with a No. 2 iron, and the maximum amount of under spin is achieved with a No. 9 iron. The Nos. 3 and 4 irons impart progressively decreasing amounts of over spin to a golf ball, while the Nos. 7 and 8 irons impart progressively increasing amounts of under spin to a golf ball. The Nos. 5 and 6 irons are transitional in nature.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will become apparent from the following detailed disclosure taken in conjunction with the drawings and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a schematic view of a club head;

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of a No. 9 club embodying the present invention;

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view of a No. 2 club head showing a second embodiment of the invention;

FIGURE 4 is a perspective view of a No. 3 club head showing a further embodiment of the invention; and

FIGURE 5 is an elevation view showing a set of clubs bearing numbers from 2 to 9.

Referring now to the drawings, and in particular to FIGURE 1, a club head will be seen as having a shaft 20 to which a head 21 is secured by means of a hosel 22. The club head 21 is provided with a face 23 which is defined by boundary lines 24 and 25. The face 23 as has been defined previously is that area of the club head with which the ball is struck. Ideally, the ball should be struck at the area indicated by reference character PP in FIGURE 1 which is the percussion point for this particular club. The percussion point is positioned approximately midway between the boundary lines 24 and 25 of the club face 23 and lies upon the percussion line which is indicated in FIGURE 1 by reference characters PL.

In FIGURE 1 the club is shown as having a toe 26 and a heel 27.

As has been described above, it is proposed by the present invention to provide a set of golf clubs in which the centre of gravity of the head of such club from the first club in the series to the last club in the series, when the series is arranged in progressively increasing loft angles, is positioned so that for the club having the smallest loft angle, the centre of gravity lies intermediate the percussion point and the toe of the club, the successive clubs in the series having the centres of gravity of their heads located progressively farther from the toe of the club head.

This is indicated schematically in FIGURE 1 where it can be seen that the centres of gravity of the various clubs in the series are indicated by the crosses bearing the reference characters from 1 to 9.

The No. 1 club in the series is the club having the smallest loft angle, and this club has the centre of gravity of its head located at the cross bearing the reference character 1. Similarly, the No. 2 club has the centre of gravity of its head located at the point bearing the reference character 2. A similar description serves for the remaining clubs in the series, the No. 9 club having the centre of gravity of its head located at the point bearing the reference character 9, which point lies between the percussion point PP and the heel 27 of the club head.

It is to be appreciated that in FIGURE 1 the positions of the centres of gravity shown are not intended to represent the actual positions which the centres of gravity will occupy in all or any given club head. FIGURE 1 is a schematic diagram only, and the positions of the centres of gravity shown in this drawing are intended to be illustrative of the principle of the invention rather than of any preferred embodiment.

In order to position the centre of gravity at the point in the club head which will produce the desired result for that particular club there are three methods of construction which may be adopted. Firstly, the club head may be forged from a blank which contains the exact amount of material to produce a club head of the desired weight. Such a construction is shown in FIGURE 2. Here the club head 21 has been forged from a blank of material which is of a Weight equal to the desired weight of the finished club head. The club head 21 has been provided on its rear face, with a thickened portion 28 which is separated from the thinner portion 29 by means of a ridge 30. The end 31 of the thickened portion 28 is of considerably greater width than the end 32 of the thickened portion 28 and, accordingly, the predominance of weight of the thickened portion 23 will lie closer to the heel than to the toe of the club. Assuming that for the particular club illustrated, which is a No. 9 club, the percussion point lies somewhere along the dotted line PL in FIGURE 2, it will be clear immediately that the centre of gravity of the club head 21 will lie between the line PL and the heel 2-7 of the club. Thus, the club illustrated in FIGURE 2 satisfies the requirements of the invention in that the club having a large loft angle and being designed for producing shorter shots should have the centre of gravity of its club head between the percussion line or between the percussion point and the heel of the club, so that, when the ball is struck by the club, the heel of the club will advance ahead of the toe to produce an under spin on the ball.

The second method in which the invention may be practiced is illustrated in FIGURE 3. In this drawing a No. 2 club is illustrated in which the club head 21 has been made from a blank which weighs slightly less than the desired weight of the finished club head. The club head 21 is manufactured in accordance with normal techniques, and, as a final step, an additional piece of material 33 has been added to the rear face of the club at a position which is calculated to position the centre of gravity of the club head as a whole at the desired point. In FIG- URE 3, assuming that the percussion point PP of the club head lies along the dotted line bearing reference character PL, it will be clear that the centre of gravity of this club head will lie between the percussion line PL and the toe 26 of the club head 21. This satisfies the conditions of the invention which require that the centre of gravity of the club head in a club such as a No. 2 club, which is designed to produce a long shot, be between the percussion line or the percussion point and the toe of the club, so that, when the ball is struck by the club, the toe of the club will advance over the heel to produce an over spin.

In FIGURE 4 the third method of practicing the invention is illustrated which comprises the manufacture of a, golf club head from a blank which is of a weight greater than the ultimate desired weight of the finished club head. This club head is manufactured also in accordance with conventional techniques, and, as a final step, material is removed from the club head at the desired points so that the material which remains will be so distributed that the centre of gravity of the club head will occupy the desired position. In the embodiment illustrated in FIGURE 4 the club head 21 has been made overweight and material has been removed from the rear face by means of shallow drillings 34, so that the centre of gravity of the club will occupy the desired position. The club illustrated in FIGURE 4 is a No. 3 iron, and assuming that the percussion point lies somewhere along the dotted line PL, it can readily be seen that the material occupying the area generaly indicated by the reference character 35 will have a mass suflicient to position the centre of gravity between the toe 26 of the club head 21 and the percussion line PL. It will be seen from FIG- URE 4 that the material remaining within the area 35 lies closer to the percussion line than does the excess material 33 shown in FIGURE 3. The reason for this is that the club illustrated in FIGURE 4 is a No. 3 iron and, accordingly, the centre of gravity is positioned closer to the percussion point, so that the momentum of the toe of the club over the heel of the club will not be as great as is the case of the No. 2 iron. Thus, the over spin on the ball produced by this club will not be as great as that produced by the club illustrated in FIGURE 3.

Referring once again to FIGURE 2, it may be seen that with the construction shown in the drawing the centre of gravity is located between the percussion point PP and the heel 27 of the club. By reducing the width of the thickened portion 28 at the end 31 and increasing the width at 32, the centre of gravity of the club can be caused to move from the location in FIGURE 2 to a position closer to the percussion line PL. By continuing thi variation in the shape of the member 28, the position of the centre of gravity can be caused to shift in successive clubs from the position which it occupies in FIGURE 2 to a position between the percussion point and the toe 26 of the club.

In FIGURE 3 the same result may be obtained by positioning the excess material 33 at different points along the rear face of the various clubs during the course of their manufacture. Similarly, in FIGURE 4 the drilling 34 may be so oriented on the rear face of the club that the material is removed from this rear face at the desired points so that the centre of gravity may be caused to locate at any desired point, so as to produce a set of clubs in which the club having the smallest loft angle has the centre of gravity located at a point intermediate the percussion point and the toe of the club and the club having the largest loft angle has the centre of gravity of its head located at the point intermediate the percussion point and the heel of the club. The intermediate clubs in such a series may be so manufactured that the centres of gravity of their heads are located at points inter-mediate the locations of the centres of gravity of the club having the smallest loft angle and the club having the largest loft angle, the positions of the centres of gravity of such intermediate clubs being progressively removed from the toe of the club head by distances which increase with the position of the club in the series. In other words, the No. 2 club, which is the club having the smallest loft angle, will have the centre of gravity of its head located at a point which lies between the percussion point and the toe of the club. The No. 3 club will have the centre of gravity of its head also lying between the percussion point and the toe of the club but farther removed from the toe of the club than the position of the centre of gravity of the No. 2 club. The No. 4 club will have the centre of gravity of its head located at a point which is again further removed from the toe of the club than the position occupied by the centre of gravity of the No. 3 club.

Referring now to FIGURE 5, a complete set of golf clubs made in accordance with this invention may be seen. The clubs have been made in accordance with the practice described in relation to FIGURE 2; each club head 21 being provided with a thickened portion 28 which is separated from a thinner portion 29 by means of a ridge 30. The club heads in the set shown in FIG- URE 5 have loft angles which increase progressively from the club head bearing the numeral 2 to the club head bearing the numeral 9. The end 31 of the thickened portion 28 is widest on the No. 9 club and narrowest on the No. 2 club, while the end 32 of the thickened portion 28 is narrowest on the No. 9 club and Widest on the No. 2 club.

From this figure it may be seen that the centre of gravity of each club head in this set of clubs lies closer to the heel 27 of the club head in the Nos. 9, 8 and 7 clubs, lies approximately midway between the toe 26 and the heel 27 of the club head in the Nos. 6 and 5 clubs and approaches the toe 26 of the club in the Nos. 4, 3 and 2 clubs in the manner required by the invention.

From the foregoing description it will be appreciated that a set of golf clubs has been provided, each club of the set being better adapted to perform its specific function than has heretofore been the case. The assistance to the golfer of the club is especially beneficial to the inexpert golfer who is unable to manipulate the club head at the instant of impact to produce the desired rotation upon the ball. The expert golfer who is capable of this manipulation by the rotation of his hands finds that the club assists him in producing this type of shot, and less effort is required on his part.

The foregoing description has also described the method of manufacturing the set of clubs whereby each club from the first club in the series to the 'last club in the series is provided with a centre of gravity located at a specific point in accordance with the invention.

It will be appreciated that minor modifications may be made in the structure of the golf club heads without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the subjoined claims.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. A set of golf clubs each having a head to which a shaft is secured by means of a hosel integral with the head, the clubs being arranged in a numbered series having heads of progressively increasing loft angles, the first and last dlubs in the series having numbers and head 10ft angles which are respectively minima and maxima, the number and head loft angle of each intermediate club in the series being larger than the number and head loft angle of the next preceding club in the series and smaller than the number and head loft angle of the next succeeding club in the series, the club having the smallest head 10ft angle having the centre of gravity of its head located between the percussion point and the toe of the club head, the successive clubs in the series having the centres of gravity of their heads located progressively farther from the toe of the club head.

2. A set of golf clubs, each club having a head to which a shaft is secured by means of a hosel integral with the head, the clubs being arranged in a numbered series having heads of progressively increasing loft angles, the first and last clubs in the series having numbers and head 10ft angles which are respectively minima and maxima, the

number and head loft angle of each intermediate club in the series being larger than the number and loft angle of the next preceding club in the series and smaller than the number and head loft angle of the next succeeding club in the series, the first club in the series having the smallest loft angle and having the centre of gravity of its head located at a point between the percussion point and the toe of the club head, successive clubs in the series having the centres of gravity of their heads located progressively farther from the toe of the club head, the last club in the series having the centre of gravity of its head located between the percussion point and the heel of the club head.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,642,42 Reach Sept. 13, 192! 1,917,774- Ogg et a l July 11, 1933 FOREIGN PATENTS 20,747 Great Britain 1909 194,823 Great Britain 1923

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