Driver
The only club allowed to bottom late — but not that late
A driver that brushes turf after the ball is doing its job. A driver that skims the crown of the ball and never prints a mark is racing. We fit the gap between those two, on a tee height you actually use, not a tour poster.
What the tape is asked to show
We tee the ball at your home height. The plate behind the tee should stay mostly clean. The plate in front should pick up a light kiss if your attack is downward, or stay quiet if you sweep. A scuff on the rear plate means the head got to dirt before it got to the ball — rare with a driver, ugly when it happens, and usually a shaft that drops the handle too soon.
Thin marks on the face plus a clean plate in front usually mean the low-point ran past the ball in the air. Length, shaft droop, and ball position move that point more honestly than a new face-print graphic.
Valley wind is not an excuse to skip the mark
Yakima afternoons shove the ball. Fitters who chase spin windows first often miss that the golfer is already thinning the strike to “keep it down.” We settle the bruise, then talk window. If you play Apple Tree, Fisher, or the muni with a high tee, say so — tee height is a low-point lever.