This Week at TravelGolf.com: Jan. 3, 2008

Golfers know Hawaii's trade winds all hot air compared to true Las Vegas bite

With the PGA Tour opening its 2008 season in the Maui resort land of Kapalua today, there's sure to be plenty of talk on TV about Hawaii's fearsome trade winds.

The winds will became a character in the Mercedes-Benz Championship, a tournament that only invites winners who don't show (see Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Padraig Harrington, Adam Scott) - even when the Ritz-Carlton opens its doors a week early for the golfers following a $160 million makeover.

If you go to Hawaii yourself to golf, you'll become convinced these trade winds are more vicious than the villain from "Saw" before you ever step onto a golf course. That's because every guide book and travel show will pump up the Hawaii winds like they're Scott Boras looking for a 5-percent cut.

You'll be warned not to play in the afternoon because this is when the winds are supposed to take their HGH or something. You'll be cautioned on how many club heads you need to go up and down.

Chances are you'll find the reality a whole lot different than the hype, though. I certainly did in a recent two-week run through the Hawaiian islands. The trade winds turned out to be a whole lot of hot air - just not literally.

To put it diplomatically, Hawaii's trade winds are wimpier than Barney the Dinosaur.

If you want to face off against winds that are going to test your game, head to Las Vegas instead. That's right, Vegas. It's more underground than a celebrity night spot where the celebrities don't actually want to be seen, but truth is, the Vegas valley can boast winds that, in the immortal words of Boo Weekley, "make your butt hole pucker up."

Especially if you're trying to hit a shot down a narrow fairway.

Las Vegas golf sometimes takes an unfair rap for being unsophisticated, mostly because when the PGA Tour finally gets here every year, nobody's watching. Try reaching Silverstone Golf Club's 653-yard par 5 with a cold Vegas wind in your face or just holding onto the windshield on your cart at Paiute's Wolf Course and you'll quickly understand the word challenge.

Kapalua's easy breezy winds are nice.

But if you want to find out how much golf guts you have, you need to take on Vegas' gusts.

As always, TravelGolf.com welcomes your comments.

Fairmont Kea Lani resort puts South Maui's glitz into a super-sized Hawaiian package

If you love the beach the way Oprah loves cheesy self-help "gurus," you want to spend time in South Maui. This is the hottest part of Hawaii's hottest island of the moment. It's where the white sand beaches are so fine that even a non-beach person can enjoy a stroll. And with its jumbo jet-sized rooms and proximity to Robert Trent Jones Jr.'s Wailea Gold golf course, the Fairmont Kea Lani is arguably the best hotel choice on South Maui.

Also: At The Challenge at Manele, the ocean holes never stop

With Revere Golf Club's Lexington, Concord courses, Casper and Nash score big

Billy Casper's playing skills have largely outpaced his work in designing courses, though that's not obvious to those who play at Revere Golf Club in Henderson, Nevada. That's because Casper and partner Greg Nash designed a marvelous 36-hole Las Vegas-area facility that leaves you wanting more. The courses fit the surroundings perfectly and look as if they were natural outgrowths instead of man-made designs.

Also: Revere's Lexington and Concord courses by the numbers

Old school tee boxes set stage at Arizona Biltmore's Adobe course

You're probably going to be surprised by how much you like the Adobe course at the Arizona Biltmore in Phoenix. It's the antithesis of all the new, modern monster courses geared to bring average golfers to their knees, Senior Writer Chris Baldwin says.

Podcast: Arizona Biltmore's presidential golf