ABSTRACT
Golf driver heads are generally made up of three components being the face, crown and sole, relating to the impact site, top and bottom respectively. The crown and sole are separated by a skirt for some constructions. Previous research (Strangwood, 2003) has shown that the performance of a driver head is mainly determined by the elastic deformation of the crown, with the properties of the face and sole playing a lesser role for current designs of clubs. The joint between the face and crown has been determined to be important for deformation transfer (Adelman et al., 2006). Non-optimal joints (welds in the previous research) were defined as those giving greater constraint, either geometrically (wide/thick) or mechanically (higher modulus). A better performing driver hence needs a suitable crown material connected to the face with a joint having similar dimensions and properties.
