We knew the answer ahead of time, so it wasn’t really a bait-and-switch.

No. Annika Sorenstam is not going to play in the Pacific Links Hawaii Championship in September. The world’s greatest women’s golfer ever told the crowded dining room Tuesday at Kapolei Golf Club that she doesn’t plan on taking on the men on the Champions Tour.

Sorenstam knew it would be asked, since she played in the Colonial in 2003.

At 42 she’s got a few years to go for senior status. Today, she’s more about designing courses than playing them. And now her priority is raising her children, Ava and William, with her husband, Mike McGee.

"Maybe I will get out there to caddie for them," she said of her kids.

But there’s still time for projects like this, as the only female "Pacific Links Ambassador" she’s promoting the tournament Willie Wood won last year in its inaugural edition.

She’s also the lone woman among the major champions each designing a hole for Club 27, which promises to be a wildly popular course — for those who can find their way to China.

Of course there were questions Tuesday about the other female who famously (or infamously, depending on how you look at it) recently played in PGA events, Michelle Wie.

"Don’t hurry success, don’t hurry to get on tour. I’ve always said take your time, enjoy being a young person. Once you get out there, it’s very competitive. Just make sure you’re ready," Sorenstam said, in some advice that is too late for Wie.

In the May issue of Golf Magazine, Sorenstam was quoted saying of Wie, "What I see now is that the talent that we all thought would be there is not there."

Sorenstam was also quoted as saying, "She has a long way to go, let’s put it that way," when asked if Wie had a chance to become the world’s top player.

Wie said Sorenstam apologized to her for those printed comments and that Sorenstam said she was misquoted. Sorenstam — who has never been shy about putting Wie on blast — was diplomatic Tuesday while speaking to a collection of Hawaii reporters about her.

"She’s still very young, but she’s been around and getting a lot of experience," Sorenstam said. "It’s (a question of) when is she gonna get that break."

Sorenstam won a record 90 international tournaments because of a no-nonsense approach to the game. But she appeared relaxed and smiled a lot Tuesday. After interviews she put on a clinic for sponsors and pro-am players on the same course where she won the Hawaiian Ladies Open in 1997.

That’s not the only, well, link, connecting Sorenstam and Pacific Links.

Pro golf and philanthropy go hand-in-hand. Sorenstam’s Annika Foundation focuses on fitness and nutrition for children and helping junior golfers.

"No. 1 on our agenda is to grow the game for future generations," she said.

For the Pacific Links Hawaii Foundation, it’s helping Leeward Coast community organizations. Executive director Ka‘iulani Laeha said the foundation plans to disburse double the $100,000 it donated in 2012, the first year of the foundation and tournament.

"We meet with community members every six weeks to identify needs," she said.

"It’s not about golf," foundation CEO Micah Kane said. "It’s about getting other people to the table who wouldn’t be there. … We see the opportunity to be part of something transitional (for the community)."

Board member Tony Guerrero is the founder of the Friends of Hawaii charities and a 20-year Makaha resident.

"This area has 9,000 people on welfare, $182 million a year," he said. "This could be huge, not in dollars, but to help the community recognize their assets."

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Reach Star-Advertiser sports columnist Dave Reardon at dreardon@staradvertiser.com, his “Quick Reads” blog at staradvertiser.com and twitter.com/davereardon.