Crossword Genius

Head of police state is part of the club set (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

putter

'part of the club set' is the definition.
(as in a golf club)

'head of police state' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'state' could be 'utter' (I've seen this before) and 'utter' is present in the answer.
A single letter 'p' remains which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This may be the basis of clue (or it may be nonsense).

'is' acts as a link.

(Other definitions for putter that I've seen before include "Golf-club" , "Golf club used on greens" , "Type of golf club" , "Club used on the green" , "Club to use on the green" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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