Amy Alcott, who's playing in the Legends Tour's Kinoshita Pearl Classic at Kapolei this weekend, is the answer to the trivia question: Name the winner of the first LPGA event in Hawai'i.

She beat Nancy Lopez and JoAnne Carner by one stroke to win the 1982 Women's Kemper Open at Kä'anapali, Maui. But Alcott's golfing career has hardly been a trivial pursuit with 29 LPGA victories, including five major championships, all leading to enshrinement in the LPGA and World Hall of Fame.

Now, she's one of the golden oldies and glad to be back in the Islands for more than just a social visit.

"Over the years, I have had a long history here. Women's Kemper Open at Kä'anapali in the 1980s, Wailea, and then at Princeville," said Alcott, who once represented the Kaua'i resort. "The LPGA Tour has a lot of fans and supporters in the Islands.

"I think it's great we're here (this week). I wish we had more tournaments," added Alcott, saddened that the LPGA has none scheduled for here next year.

She hopes the LPGA returns in the near future. "I think it's just indicative of the economy, finding sponsorship money is difficult. It's not inexpensive, but I think it's a great marketing tool for companies to put money into women's golf."

Alcott admits it's not the best of times regarding the current state of the LPGA. "(But) I think where there are problems, there are opportunities." She hopes the new commissioner will be a visionary who sees the positives in the women's tour, especially now that it's more of a global tour. Still, it's an American tour and American players need to step up their game to keep up with the many talented foreign players, especially from South Korea, according to Alcott.

"I don't want to say our players are spoiled, we have terrific gals (like Natalie Gulbis and Michelle Wie), but they have to prove themselves. You can be all glitz and glamor with all that marketing, but you've got to step up there and win four or five events a year the way great players do. That's what people are going to remember about their careers."

That's what Alcott is remembered for. She had seven multi-win years in her career, winning four times in 1979, 1980 and 1984. Unfortunately, golf wasn't as big a business during her hey-day as it is now. Her earnings for those three four-win years totaled less than $600,000 — about what four runner-up finishes pay off these days. So her LPGA lifetime earnings of $3.4 million could have been a lot more for Alcott, who broke in as the rookie of the year in 1975.

Alcott, who lives in Santa Monica, Calif., still plays occasionally on the regular tour. "I haven't given up my card. I'm still an LPGA member," said the 53-year-old Alcott, still remembered for starting the tradition of Kraft Nabisco Championship winners jumping into the lake at the 18th green.

"I started that, jumping into the water. I did it the second time I won it in 1988," she recalled. She jumped in with her caddie. Later, tournament host Dinah Shore told her she wished she had jumped in with them. "So when I won in 1991, we took her in tow and there was that famous picture of us all going into the water." Perhaps most startling was that it was so out of character for Alcott, a very private person who doesn't like to make waves.

There's life after golf for Alcott, who has designed two golf courses — Indian Canyon in Palm Springs, Calif., and Brick Landing in North Carolina. "I'm a traditionalist. I like classic courses you can walk and with everything right in front of you, not tricked up. They are the courses I play the best," she said.

Alcott also wrote a book last year, "The Leaderboard," featuring views on golf and life by celebrities who were her golf partners, including former President Bill Clinton, Boston Red Sox chairman Tom Werner and actor Jack Nicholson. "I wanted to write something different instead of an instructional book," said Alcott, who was actually encouraged by Clinton to write it after one of their rounds. "He said we all had a book inside of us."

One of the funniest remarks in the book is by CNN anchor Kyra Phillips, who lists Jesus Christ as one of the people she'd most want to play with: "I'd like to see if he'd take a mulligan." You know, Clinton would.

It's nice catching up with Amy Alcott after all these years. It's hard to believe it was 27 years ago when she won the Women's Kemper Open at the Kä'anapali North Course. But I remembered she birdied all five of the par-5 holes on Sunday to win Hawai'i's first LPGA tournament, wearing a golf cap with a Princeville logo on it.

Bill Kwon can be reached at billkwonrhs@aol.com