This is the week that the Kapalua LPGA Classic was to have been played at the Maui resort's Bay Course.

Morgan Pressel was to defend her title at an event in which local fans were waiting to see if Michelle Wie would cut classes at Stanford to try for that elusive first LPGA victory.

But it's not to be. The Kapalua LPGA Classic became a victim of the economy and was canceled, along with four other LPGA events this year, three this month alone.

"We're disappointed we were not able to host it. We couldn't find a title sponsor for the event," said Gary Planos, senior vice president of Kapalua Resort operations.

The inability to find a title sponsor and Maui Land & Pineapple losing $13.2 million in the first quarter of this year led to the undoing of the one-and-done Kapalua LPGA Classic. The Kapalua Resort also made a 10-year commitment to host the PGA Tour's season-opening tournament of champions starting next January. It will be sponsored by the Seoul Broadcasting System, which replaced Mercedes-Benz as title sponsor.

Planos had been in constant touch with Pressel, who represents Kapalua on the women's tour. "She was very disappointed," Planos said. "It's unfortunate she has no tournament to defend."

Kapalua is a special place for Pressel, more so after she ended a 42-tournament drought to win last October's event for only her second LPGA victory. But who can forget her first? It was the 2007 Kraft Nabisco Championship, when she became the youngest player to win a women's major at the age of 19 years, 10 months and nine days. It's a record that I thought Wie would set. But Wie's a teenager no longer as she celebrated her 20th birthday last Sunday.

Winning at Kapalua was exciting, Pressel said at the time. "First to be a part of the Kapalua family. To be here and to win on top of it is just that much more exciting," she said.

Even if this week at Kapalua won't be as hectic as hoped, Planos isn't idle.

"We've got a lot of things we're working on. We haven't slowed down at all," he said. For one thing, there's the preparation for the SBS Championship. And talks about the LPGA returning next year? "No comment," says Planos.

The demise of the Kapalua LPGA Classic eventually led to calling for the ouster of Carolyn Bivens as LPGA commissioner. A search for her replacement is ongoing and it can only be a good sign for the LPGA's future in the Islands, not only at Kapalua, but for the rest of the state. Hawai'i had three LPGA events a year ago and now has none scheduled for 2010, thanks to Bivens' regime. Surely, the new commissioner can't do any worse.

For now, there's an LPGA presence of sorts locally. Four LPGA players — Jeanne Cho-Hunicke, Anna Grzebien, Kim Welch and Angela Jerman — are here to play in the Aloha Team Classic 2009, hosted by the Beyond the Rainbow Foundation to benefit Maui youth agencies. The three-day, pro-am competition will be played starting Monday at the King Kamehameha Golf Club and then at Kapalua's Bay and Plantation courses.

They will also play a challenge match with four local pros, including Jerry Kelly and Mike Jones, both of Kapalua, along with eight amateurs at the Ka'anapali Resort Royal Course on Sunday and give a clinic at the Kapalua Golf Academy, starting at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday.

Also, some of the LPGA's legendary golfers will play in the Legends Tour Kinoshita Pearl Classic Oct. 23 to 25 at Kapolei Golf Course. Play begins at 9 a.m. for the Friday Pro-Am and the weekend tournament rounds.

The 35-player field will include LPGA Hall of Fame members Amy Alcott, Pat Bradley and Sandra Haynie. They'll be joined by Waikoloa's Cindy Rarick, Sherri Turner, Jan Stephenson, Jane Blalock, Dawn Coe-Jones, Nancy Scranton, Val Skinner, Kris Tschetter and Rosie Jones, among others. Blalock is the tour's CEO and Stephenson's its career money leader.

Alcott won the first LPGA tournament to be held in Hawai'i: The 1982 Women's Kemper Open at Ka'anapali North. Other previous winners hoping to find a pot of golf at the end of the rainbow here again will be Rarick (1987 Tsumura Hawaiian Ladies Open at Turtle Bay), Turner (1989 Orix HLO at Turtle Bay), Blalock (1985 WKO at Käanapali) and Coe-Jones (1992 WKO at Wailea).

Jones has never won here, but she's eager to return. "I'm really excited for the Legends Tour to be going to Hawai'i to play," she said on the LPGA Web site. "Playing in Hawai'i is always a thrill, not to mention the best destination ever to visit."

Hear that, new LPGA commish?


Bill Kwon can be reached at billkwonrhs@aol.com