Patent ID: 7549933

Claim:
A hollow golf club head having a face portion whose front face defines a club face for striking a ball, a crown portion, a sole portion, a side portion between the crown portion and sole portion, and a hosel portion, and comprising a metal component made of a metal material, and a resin component made of a fiber reinforced resin, wherein said metal component comprises a face plate forming almost the entirety of the face portion, and a sole plate forming almost the entirety of the sole portion, the face plate having a width in the toe-heel direction that decreases in a direction toward a lower edge of the face plate, the sole plate having a width in the toe-heel direction that decreases in a direction toward a lower edge of the face plate, the face plate and the sole plate being connected to each other at the lower edge of the face plate along a bent line, said resin component comprises a crown plate forming the crown portion and a side plate forming the side portion, the resin component being provided with an opening for accommodating the face portion and the sole portion of the metal component and a flange formed along an edge of the opening and supporting only an edge portion of the metal component, whereby a back face of the face plate is exposed to the hollow of the head, the sole plate is gradually increased in the thickness towards the rear end thereof, whereby a maximum thickness Tr at the rear end is in a range of from 2.0 to 8.0 mm, and a minimum thickness Tf in a front end zone of the sole plate is in a range of from 1.0 to 3.0 mm, said hosel portion includes a tubular part into which a club shaft is inserted, the tubular part being integrally formed with the metal component, extending upwardly from the sole plate while leaving a space between the face plate, and being connected to the metal component only at the sole plate, and the metal component is provided along a front end of the sole plate with a continuous or discontinuous slot, and wherein the total length of the slot along the bent line between the face plate and the sole plate is in a range of not less than 5% but not more than 70% of the overall length of the bent line.