Kaanapali

Signature Resorts Inc. said it will buy Hawaii Embassy Suites' resort hotel on Kaanapali Beach, Maui, from a Japanese partnership for about $78 million and convert 157 of the 413 suites into vacation condominiums. Signature will lead an investment group that includes Goldman, Sachs & Co.'s Whitehall Fund and Apollo Real Estate Advisors. The group will buy the hotel at a "substantial discount," Signature said in a statement.

George Archer didn't think much of his chances when he teed off Sunday in the final round of the $550,000 Kaanapali Classic. Archer trailed leader Dave Stockton by four shots, 10 other golfers were either ahead or tied with him, and the absence of the usual blustery trade winds guaranteed low scores. But as Archer would say later, "When you shoot a 63, you have a chance to do something."

Mike Hulbert and Bob Tway shot a 13-under-par 59 Friday to surge into a five-stroke lead at the halfway point of the $600,000 Chrysler PGA team championship at West Palm Beach, Fla. Hulbert and Tway, runners-up a year ago, had 11 birdies and an eagle at the Palm Beach Polo and Country Club for a two-round score of 120. The teams of Jeff Sluman-Robert Wrenn and Fred Couples-Mike Donald were tied for second place at 125.

Escape on a warm winter getaway to Starwood Hotels & Resorts Hawaii's 11 award-winning properties on Oahu, Maui, Kauai and Hawaii (the Big Island). The Royal Hawaiian, a Luxury Collection Resort, and The Moana Surfrider, A Westin Resort & Spa, are offering special epicurean winter menus and beverage concoctions. Make your own s'mores over fire pits at the reinvigorated Sheraton Waikiki. Experience a sweet winter wonderland at Sheraton Princess Kaiulani featuring a 24-foot wide gingerbread village.

Hawaii could be the perfect place to unwind after all the holiday hoopla. How convenient then that two deals offer good savings for travelers during January. The Ka'anapali Beach Hotel on Maui gives guests a free rental car with a room. And Pleasant Holidays has airfare and hotel packages from Los Angeles to four of the islands, starting at $385 per person to Oahu . Deal 1 : The Ka'anapali Beach Hotel on Maui offers a Jump Into January package that starts at $214 plus tax for a room with partial ocean view, daily breakfast and a free compact rental car. When: Book by Nov. 30 for stays from Jan. 4 to 31. Tested: I checked the hotel's website and found a room for five nights starting Jan. 8 at the $214 plus tax rate.

It was a nightmare in Hawaii that Mark Monazzami can never forget . . . no matter how hard he tries. He emerged from the hospital Thursday and planned to join the search for his bride's body in the beautiful waters off Maui. It was there, he said, that she bled to death after the shark took off her arm. There are no eyewitnesses to the attack and no body.

Despite another ho-hum 66 that gave him a share of the lead Friday in the National Car Rental Classic at Lake Buena Vista, Fla., Tiger Woods considered the optimal scoring conditions and said anything could happen over the weekend. The trick is to convince everyone else of that. Woods continued to show peak form after a three-week layoff with a variety of shots that carried him into a tie for the lead after two rounds with Jim Carter and Bob Tway.

What usually is an easy event for PGA Tour players turned into a day of frustration on slick, sun-baked greens at the $2-million National Car Rental Classic, leaving Davis Love III and five others in the lead after the second round at Lake Buena Vista, Fla. Their seven-under 137 tied the record for the highest 36-hole lead in the Disney Classic, set by John Mahaffey in 1973. That didn't surprise anyone.

Lee Trevino says he knows what to expect in his debut on the Senior PGA Tour in the Kaanapali tournament, starting here today. "I'm going to be nervous. I'm going to be pressured. I'm going to be trying too hard," Trevino said. His arrival on the scene--Trevino turned 50 last week--is one of the most heralded since the senior tour started 10 years ago. And Trevino has been preparing for it for nearly three years.