Significant because the greatest marketing potential for growth in the sport is women's golf, according to Greg Nichols, Ko Olina's director of golf who is spearheading the biennial conference.

The women's market and the minority market in golf were two focal issues in a report by the World Golf Foundation. And what better place than Hawai'i in terms of addressing those areas as they apply here, Nichols said.

"The timing is excellent, especially with Votaw as the speaker," Nichols said.

Also on the program are Larry Gilhuly, USGA's western regional director; John Monahan, Hawai'i Visitors & Convention Bureau president and CEO; Jay Talwar, HVCB marketing vice president; John Toner, chairman of the Hawai'i Tourism Authority; and Wanda Kakugawa, president of Golf Data Institute.

The program will be moderated by Mark Rolfing, the NBC-TV golf analyst.

"Those who attend won't just be listening," Rolfing said. "I want it to be a two-way conversation that will be educational and informative. The last session will be an open forum where people can talk about any issue they want. Anything is fair game. I know one big issue is kama'aina rates. And another is the flatness of golf play here."

"It's open to the general public and we encourage anyone who's interested in golf in Hawai'i to come and take part," said Paul Sugimoto, the Aloha Section PGA executive director.

Still, the people who probably will most benefit from attending the conference will be those involved in the local golf industry.

"We need to view the state golf industry here. Where we've been, what we are doing to market ourselves to the world," said Nichols, who pointed out that one of the challenges facing the golf industry, according to a national study, is that more people are taking up golf but those who already golf are playing less.

Of interest to the media types will be the future of the LPGA and Votaw, who plans on stepping down as commissioner at the end of the year.

He is certainly leaving the tour in sound financial standing since taking over seven years ago. The players will be playing for a record $43.3 million in prize money in 31 official events, starting with the SBS Open.

The title sponsor, the Seoul Broadcasting System, is footing a television rights deal that will be the largest in LPGA history.

The Korean interest in the LPGA shouldn't come as a surprise. Nine South Koreans earned 2005 LPGA cards at the latest qualifying school, joining the 27 already playing on the tour.

And don't be surprised if Japan makes a strong comeback in women's golf, and then you will really see an increased fervor for TV rights from the Asian market.

Before the Koreans came along, most of the outstanding women's golfers from the Far East were Japanese — Ayako Okamoto, Hiromi Kobayashi, Akiko Fukushima, Mayumi Hirase and Chako Higuchi.

Only Fukushima and a couple of second-year players are still around.

But their numbers have dwindled to the point that there are more American-Japanese ancestry golfers on the tour than from Japan.

However, with its victory in the Women's World Cup of Golf in South Africa last week, Japan figures to make it back in a big way in the near future — thanks, in part, to two teenagers who definitely look like future LPGA stars — Ai Miyazato and Sakura Yokomine.

Miyazato, who partnered with Rui Kitada to win the two-person world cup event, plans to try the LPGA Q-School later this year, while Sakura — who in Japan has already approached one-name celebrity status, a la Ichiro — awed local fans with an under-par performance in the recent Hawai'i Pearl Open.

With outstanding golfers from South Korea and Japan, plus Wie in the mix, women's golf should have a growing television appeal in the future.

Besides Wie, another Korean-American, 2004 LPGA Q-School medalist Paula Creamer, Christina Kim and golf's calendar girl, Natalie Gulbis, make for a bright future in women's golf for the USA as well.