You ask. We answer.

Reader Joe McPherson is headed to Maui next week and had a question for us. What’s the best way to make arrangements in advance for golf tee times?

Simple. No matter which island is your destination, call the concierge of the hotel or resort you are staying at before you get there.

First, they’ll be happy to reserve tee times for you. More importantly, they’ll know the most convenient and best courses, costs and availability. They may even be able to find you special golf packages at the resort.

Also keep in mind that registered guests at nearby resorts almost always get the best rates. So if you're staying at, say, The Ritz-Carlton Kapalua, your best bet is teeing off at Kapalua Resort.

Maui’s golf courses are among Hawaii’s best. Here are just a few recommendations:

Wailea Golf Club. Guests staying at resorts in south Maui's Wailea resort area get the best rates, but all three courses are open to the public. Book tee time here, or call (800) 888-6100, ext. 8. Click here for rates.

Kapalua Resort. Kapalua's two courses are world-renowned for hosting championship golf tournaments. The Plantation Course  hosts the PGA Tour season-opening Mercedes-Benz Championship in January; the Bay Course the Kapalua LPGA Classic in October. The resort won Golf Magazine's 2008 Gold Award for best value. Book tee time here, or call (877) 527-2582. Click here for rates.

Kaanapali Golf Resort. There are two courses here—The Royal Kaanapali and the Kaanapali Kai.  The Royal Kaanapali is one of only two courses in Hawaii designed by Robert Trent Jones Sr. It's also the main location for the current season of the Golf Channel's reality series Big Break. Book tee time here, or call (866) 454-4653. Click here for rates.

Makena Golf Courses. Two courses—a North and South course—designed by Robert Trent Jones Jr. 808-891-4000. Book tee time here, or call (808) 891-4000. Click here for rates.

 

Apparently, hell hath no fury like golfers unleashed on Maui with $10,000 in cash, a BMW Z4 and  an LPGA tournament slot at stake.

At least that’s what we thought while watching a preview of Golf Channel’s reality series “Big Break,” which premieres its 10th season Tuesday at 10 p.m., eastern time (6 p.m. Hawaii time).

We also thought, “Wait, the Golf Channel has a reality show?” But that’s another story.

For those not in the know (that included us a few hours ago), each season of “Big Break” pits 12 golfers against each other for an exemption slot in a championship golf tournament. Producers fly the dozen (this season, they’re all-female) to a cool golf destination (Kaanapali, this time) with the lure of sweet prizes (grand prize this time around is a slot at the 2008 Navistar LPGA Classic).

Each episode tests their skills on the greens. A player is eliminated each week.

Think “Survivor,” with nine irons and a cushy golf resort instead of an immunity idol and some godforsaken desert island. Like “Survivor,” the drama comes from the diverse personalities and egos of those involved.

Based on the clashes of ids and egos that we saw in the “Big Break” preview, the only thing sure to come out smelling sweet by season’s end is Maui’s sunny and scenic Kaanapali Resort.

“Big Break” has filmed in Hawaii once before—in late 2005 at Oahu’s Turtle Bay Resort.

More on the Kaanapali season here.
  

Thought we’d share a couple of kid-friendly packages we recently found out about from the folks at the Big Island’s Mauna Lani Resort and ResortQuest Hawaii.

The first is golf.

Already home to a couple of top-ranked courses designed by Francis H. Ii Brown, the Mauna Lani resort recently opened a nine-hole golf course for kids. Designed for junior golfers with some skills—if not enough to play the 18-hole Brown courses—and beginning players under age 18, the par 33 course is, according to the Mauna Lani, the only course of its kind in the state.

No surprise, if your child wants to learn how to play, the resort’s golf academy also offers customized lessons for beginning juniors. Golfers under age 14 must be accompanied by an adult.

Rates, tee times and more details are available here.

The second is more wide-ranging.

ResortQuest Hawaii’s family-friendly “Kids Stay, Play & Eat FREE” program offers just that.

Children under age 12 staying at ResortQuest properties statewide—accompanied by a paying adult, naturally—get free admission to Hawaiian Waters Adventure Park on Oahu, the Sugar Cane Train on Maui or Atlantis Submarines on the Big Island. They’ll also get free meals at various restaurants and complimentary swag from participating retailers.

You’ll find a full listing of statewide ResortQuest Kids offers here.

  

 Just hitting news stands is the April issue of Golf Magazine, with its 20th anniversary list of premier golf resorts, picked with the help of 8,000 readers.

Of the 75 resorts, Hawaii has nine.  Top rated was the Four Seasons Resort Lana'i at Manele Bay, praised for its “pristine” golf experience.

Also receiving honors was Manele Bay’s sister property on Lanai, The Lodge at Koele

There were three prime golf resorts on the Big Island: Four Seasons Resort Hualalai, Mauna Lani Resort and Hilton Waikoloa Village.

Two on Maui: the Grand Wailea Hotel & Spa and the Kapalua Resort.  And two on Kauai: Grand Hyatt Kauai and Princeville at Hanalei.

We especially enjoyed that Golf Magazine included both maps and  temperature reports for each of the resorts.  When we checked, it was in the mid-70s at all the Hawaii resorts, but at the American Club in Kohler, Wisc., it was a brisk 30 degrees, a bit cold for golf.  But maybe we’re just wusses from living in Hawaii so long.




 

The Big Island’s Mauna Lani Resort is one of the most earth-friendly getaways in the world, according to Conde Nast Traveler.

In its January issue, the magazine praised the South Kohala Coast resort and nine others worldwide for their eco-friendly accommodations and operations.

The Mauna Lani generates more of its own electricity than any resort in the world. Its three-acre photovoltaic solar array provides the majority of power sucked up by the resort’s water pumping system. More than 50 percent of the power used by the property’s golf facilities is solar.

Since 1989, the resort has nurtured baby honu (Hawaiian for turtle) in its saltwater ponds as part of an ecotourism attraction designed to raise awareness of the species. The Mauna Lani releases the healthy adults each July 4 as part of its annual Turtle Independence Day celebration. Over the years, it has raised 125 green sea turtles for release into the wild.

All good stuff worth recognizing.

But I’d really be impressed if the Mauna Lani significantly reduced the three million gallons of fresh water pumped onto its golf courses each day and encouraged other area resorts to do the same.

Then WE’D give the Mauna Lani some serious eco-friendly props, too.

UPDATE, 3/19/08: Here comes the "serious eco-friendly props" we promised. Mauna Lani communications manager Susan Bredo says that the resort pumps brackish, not fresh, water on its golf courses. The resort's two courses are planted with "seashore paspalum" grass, which, says Bredo, can handle brackish water and requires less fertilizer and herbicides.

  

The Ritz-Carlton Kapalua reopens today (1/7/08), after a $160-million transformation. 

The luxury oceanview resort on Maui’s northwest shore has been “privately” open for the last 10 days, housing the golfers, officials and media for first PGA tour event of the year, the Mercedes-Benz Championship, won by Daniel Chopra in a playoff.

The PGA golfers move on to Honolulu for the 10th anniversary Sony Open, which begins Wednesday with a pro-am.

The “reinvented” resort now takes reservations from the public for its 463 remodeled guestrooms and suites, which promise all new furnishings, dark wood floors, travertine bathrooms, all the latest electronics and Hawaiian print artwork framed in koa.  There are also new full-ownership residential suites offering kitchen areas and spacious living rooms.