Me and Kapalua's Gary Planos on the first tee at The Plantation Course

I’m back in NYC after a wonderful and very relaxing vacation in Maui. I’ve actually been home since Tuesday morning, but I’ve been dealing with severe Hawaii-withdrawal disorder. Before I come to terms with the fact that I’m no longer in paradise, I’d just like to extend a huge thank you to Gary Planos (aka, “The Mayor”) for hosting and to everyone at Kapalua for their amazing hospitality.

(I can feel Intern Kevin shaking his head and calling me out for my “NASCAR-like” shout-outs, but you know, it’s not like I have to sell anyone on Kapalua or Maui! You guys would still go there if I lied and said it totally sucked. Duh. For what it’s worth, my parents, who joined me for the latter half, said it was the “best vacation ever.”)

A big thank you to Merf and Conor for filling in and taking care of the blog during my extended vacation. I appreciate it, guys! — I wouldn’t have been able to enjoy some much-needed time off without your help.

Oh, and thanks to all you readers for putting up with my obnoxious posts and tweets about Maui. I’m sure it got pretty annoying after a week or so.

Anyway, I got to play 6 1/2 rounds of golf (1 at Bay, 5 1/2 at Plantation), which is the most in such a short period of time since circa 2004. Hell, before this year, I probably hadn’t played six rounds in the past four years! No joke.

I’ll post some more pictures on the WUP Facebook page, which, by the way, you should all join if you haven’t already. But here’s this one from Derek Franks of 72strokes.com.

The 18th hole at Kapalua's Plantation Course

Sigh. But on the bright side, I get to go back in January for the Tour’s season opener! And I’m already counting down the days. Alright, now let’s return to talking about all that Fall Series drama.

By the way, in case you don’t hate me enough, I’ve been invited to play Merion Golf Club tomorrow. Philly, here I come!