Generally, Maui golf is expensive. Not especially so given the greens fees in other West Coast meccas like Scottsdale and Las Vegas. And not at Cabo’s high-end luxury level where fees seem to start at $250 and negotiate up in the Mexican coast’s successful quest to bring in young Hollywood execs and Wall Street players. Still, if you’re playing golf in Maui, you’re looking at well north of $100 per round. But there is still one great relative bargain on the island. You can play Kapalua’s famed Plantation Course for $65 after 3:30 p.m. right now and its currently nine-hole sister Bay ... full post »

When the shuttle bus driver picking me up at the Four Seasons Lodge at Koele simply laughed and pointed at the big dark clouds when I told him I was taking the ferry to Maui, I probably should have taken the hint. By the time the construction workers who take this ferry twice a day every day were clinging to the sides of their seats like timid teenage girls at a horror movie, it was a little late. If you’re in Maui for a golf vacation, you absolutely have to get to the little Hawaiian island of Lanai. It will probably ... full post »

The quickest way to out yourself as a dorky tourist in Hawaii is to go around saying, “Aloha” to everyone. This works better than one of those fanny packs. And you don’t necessarily want a bunch of people happily screaming “Aloha” to you either. That just means they look at you as a rube with an easy-open wallet. No one who actually grew up in Hawaii uses aloha in their regular, non-tourist speak. The word’s basically a marketing invention of the tourism industry. It’s for people who used to watch bad TV shows in the 70s. You can learn about this - and ... full post »

Like many people planning their first trip to Hawaii, I’d heard endless stories on how picturesque everything is. Which usually triggered a shrug or a polite nod on my part. If you’re in the travel writing business, you should look at over-the-top PR claims with a healthy dose of cynicism. And everyone knows that Hawaii is one of the most successfully marketed destinations of all time, one that built its image on millions and millions of advertising dollars. So I didn’t know quite what to expect. I certainly never expected to be writing the Hawaii version of WorldGolf.com bigwig (and usually ... full post »

If you’ve spent much time in Phoenix, you have an idea of what a precipitous plunge Wayne Gretzky’s career has taken recently. His record as Coyotes coach is well under .500 and maybe worse yet, his team is one of the least interesting in a league that almost no one’s interested in. But the news this week that Gretzky had agreed to be host of a Nationwide Tour event in Canada makes the fall now impossible to ignore. What, there wasn’t a ping pong club championship that 99 could put his name on? This would be like Peyton Manning hosting the NBDL ... full post »

Some people like to gorge on golf along with that turkey on Thanksgiving. If you find yourself in the Phoenix-Scottsdale resort corridor, one of the most enjoyable ways to do is to drive out to Raven Golf Club at Verrado. This golf course is a little off the beaten path in Buckeye (almost an hour’s drive from Old Town Scottsdale) and because of this they do things a little differently. This Thanksgiving, that means a 9 a.m. shotgun start, which adds a little sense of community to the whole Thanksgiving golf thing with everyone warming up on the driving range at the ... full post »

No one’s endorsing Michael Vick here, but someone needs to take a stand and ban little yapping dogs - mainly chihuahuas - from golf course homes. Or better yet, ban their owners. In the past, I’ve went into how golfers should feel free to fire at homes hugging fairways at will. And should start aiming for them, if one of those annoying homeowners who doesn’t realize he bought a home on a golf course, pops his head out of the patio door and starts glaring at golfers minding their own business. If you purchased a home on a golf course and ... full post »

The only thing bigger for Las Vegas’ often disregarded PGA tournament than the news that pop star Justin Timberlake has signed a five-year deal to be the event’s host would be if Tiger Woods put his name on a 10-year binding contract to play in it. Don’t laugh. Timberlake can have a bigger positive impact on Vegas’ PGA Tour stop than any single player not named Tiger. He brings starpower to a town that doesn’t respect anything but. Sure, it might not be the kind of star power that 50-year-old guys who plant themselves at the poker table fall over themselves to ... full post »

Like many Americans, I spent Veterans Day golfing. Unlike most I was working - and if you saw my swing - you’d realize it definitely qualifies as work - but it’s still great to see so many golfers out having a good time. Until, you realize that many of them are paying extra. On Veterans Day. Look, it’s bad enough that the golf industry hasn’t been able to come together in anything near mass and offer veterans free golf on Veterans Day and Memorial Day. But to charge the people who have given this country such selfless service a holiday rate on ... full post »

Such fussy care has been put into the details at the renovated, just reopened Pelican Hill Golf Club - from using shrub that will never grow taller than three feet to insure those ocean views are never again obscured, to carts with seats so plushy green padded that your back will never realize it’s in a golf cart - it’s easy to assume that no one thing could completely stand out. When Tom Fazio, in a rare second chance, and the Irvine Company’s bankroll are teaming up to play the obsessive-compulsive Monk in a two course Newport Beach revamp, every T ... full post »

PGA National’s Champion Course is the host of one of those tournaments (the Honda Classic) that’s desperately trying to woo Tiger Woods. Tournament officials believe they have a real chance because PGA National is in Palm Beach Gardens, close to Tiger’s Jupiter Island compound. This means that PGA National Champion - already one of the best courses in Florida - keeps getting better. They spend more time tweaking the Champion Course than the Spice Girls have plotting their comeback. The latest significant money move comes in the reshaping and expansion of bunkers on five of the 18 holes and grounds landscaping. Do ... full post »

Most golf pros and general managers are unremarkable to mediocre. That’s the way it is in almost every profession - golf writers included. Unfortunately, you tend to remember the truly bad ones most too - the pro who puts his own game ahead of his customers, the GM who acts like he has a no-show job on The Sopranos. But every once in a while, you come across someone in the golf industry who’s great at their job. Rod Cochrane is one of those golf lifers who tries a little harder, cares a little more and preens a lot less. When I ... full post »