It's a great week for local golf fans, who are hoping it'll be an even greater weekend.

For starters, Stephanie Kono, Kimberly Kim and Ayaka Kaneko — truly Hawai'i's Special K's — are among the 10 players on the West girls' team in the 18th Canon Cup, a Ryder Cup-style event conducted by the American Junior Golf Association.

Tadd Fujikawa, 16, who played in last year's Canon Cup, makes his professional debut in the Reno-Tahoe Open today. And Michelle Wie, 17, becomes a part of golf history as the Women's British Open is being played at St. Andrews, the home of golf, for the first time.

You can bet the local teenage pros will command a lot of media attention; more so if they make the cut and survive to play the weekend.

I like their chances of doing so.

Fujikawa already has shown that he has game, becoming the youngest to play in the 106-year history of the U.S. Open at Winged Foot last year, and the youngest in 50 years to make a PGA Tour cut in this year's Sony Open in Hawai'i. He finished tied for 20th, but couldn't take a $54,000 paycheck because of his amateur status. Fujikawa also became the youngest Hawai'i Pearl Open champion a month later.

Wie found enough "positives" from her game in the Evian Masters last week, making the cut despite a swing, in her own words, that was "totally out of whack."

That might not be a good sign for the Old Course at St. Andrews, which requires precise shot-making. Wait until she meets up with the Scottish gorse and the course's lurking deep pot bunkers.

It's a shame that her game is literally not up to par this year.

What a great story it would be if she were to become the first Women's British Open champion at St. Andrews, site of the British Open 27 times.

For Wie, it would be an accomplishment even better than playing in the Masters, which still is a dream of hers.

Whoever wins Sunday, it'll be one of the most significant victories in the history of women's golf. While the Women's British Open began in 1976, it never was incorporated into the LPGA schedule until 1994, and not declared a major championship until 2001 when Se Ri Pak won.

The odds favor three-time Women's British Open winners Karrie Webb and defending champion Sherri Steinhauer. Or, because of the numbers, a golfer from South Korea.

The trend in this year's LPGA majors has been first-time winners — Morgan Pressel (Kraft Nabisco Championship), Suzann Pettersen (McDonald's LPGA Championship) and Cristie Kerr (U.S. Women's Open). If there's to be another first-time major winner, I'd like it to be Lorena Ochoa, who faces the most pressure in a major because of her No. 1 ranking.

This major's the real big deal, though. After all, we're talking St. Andrews here.

REWARDING SUMMER

It has been quite a rewarding summer for the Special K's, especially Kono, who will be entering her senior year at Punahou School.

Kono didn't play in many events, but she reached the quarterfinals of the U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links Championship in Lexington, Ky., losing to eventual champion Mina Harigae, and gained the semifinals of the U.S. Junior Girls in Lakewood, Wash., by taking out Kim, only to lose to the eventual champion again, Kristen Park, who beat Kaneko in the 36-hole final.

Before going to the U.S. Junior Girls, Kono and her parents visited Arizona State, Pepperdine and UCLA. She made a commitment to join the Bruins, who offered her a full scholarship.

"I've always wanted to go to UCLA. The campus is beautiful and we get to practice at courses like Bel-Air and Wilshire. And the 2008 team is going to be the best on the West Coast, and has a chance to win the NCAA championship," Kono said in a telephone interview from Tennessee, where she's playing in the Canon Cup.

It's not the end of the golf season for Kono. She and Kim were selected to the U.S. team for the biennial Junior Solheim Cup in Sweden Sept. 10 to 12. They'll be roommates.

"I'm really excited. We both had a good time together this summer," said Kono, who was given a special award by the USGA for being one of only a number of players who qualified to play in the U.S. Junior Girls Championship six times.