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.
  

Would you spend a minimum $10,000 to run the Big Island’s famed annual Ironman Triathlon Championship in October?

Perhaps if the money went to a trio of worthy charities, including two based in Hawaii?

For a sixth year, Ironman is holding an eBay auction for six slots in the world’s premier triathlon. The minimum bid for each of the slots is $10,000. All of the money raised goes to the charities—St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital in Florida, Hospice of Kona Hawaii and Kalaoa Volunteer Fire Company.

Bidding starts on April 13, with one slot put up for auction per week. Slots in past years have gone for an average of $40,000—so make sure your mortgage is paid this month before pressing that shiny blue “place bid” button.

On a personal note: We less-than-athletic types would think twice about taking on the event’s 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride and 26.2 mile marathon— all under the hot Kailua-Kona sun. Never mind paying $10,000 to $40,000 for the privilege of doing so.

But that’s just us.

We do, however, commend anyone with enough athleticism, cash and 30+ SPF sunscreen willing to take Ironman up on this.

Look for an auction link at the Ironman’s official Web site here in the next few weeks.

  

 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.




 

Did you notice I wasn’t posting on HawaiiMagazine.com last Friday?

That's partly because I was hurtling at more than 50 mph, 300 feet above the floor of a West Maui gulch.

For the May/June issue of HAWAII Magazine, I’ll be writing a story about my morning of ziplining with the great instructors at Kapalua Adventures.

Until then, check out the YouTube video below of me careening down the longest zipline Kapalua Adventures offers. The more than 2,000-foot-long line runs above and along Kaopala Gulch in the West Maui mountains. Whoooooa!  Seriously cool.

If Larry and the other instructors had let me, I’d have ziplined with ‘em all afternoon.

Anybody with me the next time I'm on Maui?

 

World-renown pro soccer icon and husband-of-a-Spice-Girl David Beckham arrives in Hawaii to play some ball this week. He’s injury-free, rested and anxious to play.

After sitting out much of his first multi-million paycheck season with the Los Angeles Galaxy due to injuries, Beckham told the Los Angeles Times Friday that he’s hoping to redeem himself at Hawaii’s inaugural Pan-Pacific Championship tournament.

The Galaxy will be vying with three other pro-soccer teams for the championship Feb. 20 and 23 at Aloha Stadium.

"We're looking forward to going to Hawaii. It's my first time there,” Beckham told the Times.

Beckham and other players will speak at a Pan-Pacific Championship press conference, Monday at 2:45 p.m. (Hawaii time) at the Hilton Hawaiian Village. Watch it live online at the Pan-Pacific Championship’s site here or Major League Soccer site here.

As for the games, you can watch them live on ESPN Classic and online at ESPN360.com.

If you’re in Honolulu for the tournament and want to see Becks, you may have to be content with a chance sighting. Beckham currently has no public appearances scheduled in town beyond games.

But we’ll let you know if that changes.

UPDATE, 2/19/08: Beckham and other PPC players will participate in a youth soccer clinic, today between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. at Waianae High School, 85-251 Farrington Highway, Oahu.

  

Players and cheerleaders in town for Sunday’s NFL Pro Bowl turned up in downtown Honolulu today for the game week’s official kick-off celebration.

They were in Bishop Square—next door to HAWAII Magazine’s offices—posing for pictures and signing autographs for a thousand-strong crowd of fans and the just plain curious. One of the latter—oddly fascinated by a 20-foot high inflatable football visible from our offices—I headed across the street with associate editor Sherie Char.

We immediately got a surprise welcome from Tennessee Titan mascot T-Rac, who snuck up from behind and held us in a headlock. (That’s T-Rac with Sherie in the pic.) Mascots from the Minnesota Vikings, Cleveland Browns and Jacksonville Jaguars were hamming it up for the crowd, rollerskating and dancing to always-raring-to-play-a-party Honolulu music group Kapena.

This is the Pro Bowl’s 29th year in Hawaii. We pay millions to bring the game here. The game brings thousands of NFL fans to our shores. And football fans in Hawaii—still a state with no NFL team of its own—get to see the pros in action at Aloha Stadium.

An over-much-too-quickly dance routine by the NFL Pro Bowl cheerleaders brought hundreds of cameras out early on. Legendary Hawaii vocalist and “Ambassador of Aloha” Danny Kaleikini was up next with an invocation in Hawaiian. Speeches were given by a few dignitaries, including Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann and NFL senior vice president of events Frank Supovitz. (Talk about moving from one high-profile gig to another … Supovitz just got off Super Bowl duty on Sunday.)

Finally, a quartet of players from the NFC all-star team got some time at the mike to say a few words.

Arizona Cardinals defensive tackle Darnell Dockett talked some mild smack about the AFC’s chances of winning. (Slim to none, apparently, if you believed his brio.) Chicago Bears defensive tackle Tommie Harris confessed about Hawaii, “I love this place so much, I got an 808 phone number!” (Hawaii’s area code is 808.) And last up, Seattle Seahawks outside linebacker Julian Peterson (pictured above) joked that Dockett, Harris and Bears special teamer Brendon Ayanbadejo—impressive public speakers and budding comedians, all—had stolen all his best lines.

The four hung around afterward, in the shadow of the giant pigskin, to sign autographs for a lengthy queue of fans.

So … are you cheering for the NFC league or the AFC league this weekend? Or did last weekend’s Super Bowl effectively end football season for you?
  

The end of another Super Bowl means two things to Hawaii NFL fans: a Monday morning date at the gym to drop Super Bowl party weight before it sticks, and Pro Bowl Week in Honolulu.

Players from the AFC and NFC leagues begin arriving today for practices and citywide events that end with next Sunday’s annual NFL all-star game at Aloha Stadium.

I’ll be checking out the Pro Bowl Week Kick-Off Rally, noon, at Bishop Square on Wednesday. (Bishop Square is just across the street from HAWAII Magazine’s Downtown Honolulu offices.) NFL players and cheerleaders will be on hand for pictures and autographs. Admission is free.

You’ll find a schedule of other Pro Bowl Week events in Honolulu—with plenty of other opportunities to hang with the players (and cheerleaders)—here.

But if you’re fortunate enough to be in Honolulu this week, you’ll find Pro Bowl players kicking back at beaches, restaurants, nightclubs and retailers throughout Waikiki—albeit, with one notable exception.

The big—though not all that surprising—news today for football fans in town was New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady’s decision to drop out of the Pro Bowl due to an ankle injury. Brady, you might recall, was mercilessly sacked by New York Giants players five times during yesterday’s Super Bowl.

We can only imagine the pain of watching your team lose the Super Bowl in the game’s final minute AND getting the breath beat out of you by the Giants' defensive line for three straight hours. So we’ll excuse Brady for wanting to sit this one out at home.

Brady’s teammate, receiver Randy Moss, also dropped out of the Pro Bowl this morning.

In more positive news, however, meteorologists are predicting that Oahu’s current overcast skies and soggy weather will move on by Pro Bowl day. The forecast for Sunday? Partly sunny skies.

Cross your fingers.

Anybody out there—from the Mainland, neighbor Islands or even the North Shore of Oahu—got tix to the Pro Bowl?
 
 

Becks is coming. Can Posh be far behind?

Multi-millionaire soccer icon and Spice-Girl-marrying Renaissance man David Beckham will be winging over to Honolulu in February to play his first-ever matches in Hawaii.

Beckham will bend it with his Los Angeles Galaxy teammates at the inaugural Pan-Pacific Championship, a professional soccer competition featuring four world-class teams. The two-day tournament kicks off with a doubleheader Feb. 20 at Aloha Stadium.

The opening game matches Beckham’s Los Angeles Galaxy with Japan’s Gamba Osaka. Current Major League Soccer Cup champs Houston Dynamo will take on a yet-to-be-determined opponent, with winners moving on to the finals, Feb. 23 at 8:30 p.m.; again at Aloha Stadium.

Also back in town to play his first major league match for a hometown crowd: Houston Dynamo striker and Oahu native Brian Ching.

Six days of Major League Soccer-sponsored festivities will kick off Feb. 18 at various locations. No word on whether Becks will be at any of these events. But you can check out the full Pan-Pacific Championship schedule and buy tickets here.

Prepare yourself with a repeat viewing of Bend It Like Beckham, or an hour with a Spice Girls CD. I recommend Spice.

 

The University of Hawaii Warrior football team has a new head coach.

Warriors defensive coordinator Greg McMackin formally accepted the promotion this morning at a news conference at the campus’s Stan Sheriff Center.

McMackin seems like a good choice for the job. Among his supporters for the job were former UH football coach June Jones, assistant coaches Jeff Reinebold and Rich Miano, and Warrior football booster club Na Koa.

Here’s hoping the quick decision holds the winning football program together after June Jones’s departure.

Any comments from Warrior football fans on McMackin's promotion?