“We got the first one from Staples"

I guess I'd find this Adam Schupak item on the USGA's scanner/mold groove test doing a better job than the $175,000 machine a lot more cute had the USGA just not ended its Colorado Springs-based Fellows Program. (Golf World's Ryan Herrington reported in the September 7 issue the "stagnant economy" as the blame and that the average annual grant give out of $5.2 million will be way down, with a $1 million minimum guaranteed by David Fay.)

Rugge’s goal was to develop a field test that would indicate if a club was definitely conforming (or non-confirming) but if the test results proved to be in a gray area, the club in question would be sent for further testing to the USGA in Far Hills, N.J., and reviewed with the $175,000 “Mack Daddy” machine.

Here’s the kicker: That shouldn’t be necessary. It turns out that the $175 version is more accurate than its pricier counterpart. Sometimes less is truly more.

“It’s incredible,” Rugge said.

That it is.