Patent ID: 8226498

Claim:
A golf club head comprising: a face configured for striking a ball with an outer surface thereof and having an inner surface opposite the outer surface; a body connected to the face and extending rearward from the face, the body having a heel and a toe opposite the heel, the body further being configured for connection with a shaft proximate the heel; and a stiffening member extending rearward from the inner surface of the face and extending across the inner surface of the face such that a central longitudinal axis of the stiffening member extends diagonally across the face between a first point and a second point, the first point positioned in a first quadrant located on an upper portion of the face and on one of a heel side and a toe side, and the second point positioned in a second quadrant located on a lower portion of the face and on the other of the heel side and the toe side, the stiffening member providing locally increased stiffness to the face, the stiffening member being defined on opposite sides by first and second opposed, concave, curvilinear edges, wherein each of the first and second edges extends continuously between a first end proximate the first point and a second end proximate the second point, with the second end of each of the first and second edges being positioned toward the bottom edge and the toe edge of the face relative to the first end, wherein the first and second edges converge continuously from the respective first ends and second ends toward a narrowest point proximate a center of the stiffening member, where the first and second edges are most proximate to each other, such that the stiffening member has an overall width measured parallel to the face and between the first and second edges that is greater at the first point and the second point than an overall width at the narrowest point of the stiffening member.