Looking back on the past 20 years of her remarkable life, Se Ri Pak was speaking her second language from a few thousand miles away. Still, her words and warmth were infinitely clear.

She vividly recalled the impact Nancy Lopez had on her rapidly evolving life in 1998, after she won two LPGA majors at age 20.

“What a wonderful person she is,” Pak said about Lopez over the phone. “She helped me a lot, mentoring me when I was a rookie. I look forward to being like she was … when she retired and what fans remembered about her as a person. Not only as a great player, but the great person Nancy is. Such a loving person to everybody, all the fans out there.

“I want the same thing, that people think of me as not only a great player, but like me as a great person. I don’t know if I’ve done it, but that is one big goal.”

Take it from a generation of South Korean female golfers she has guided, and so many others she has touched the past two decades, Pak has accomplished her goal.

The “godmother” of the current wave of South Korean golfers announced her retirement last month. Next week’s Lotte Championship at Ko Olina will probably be her final appearance in Hawaii. This will be her last year on an LPGA tour she has impacted in a unique way since her stunning debut in 1998.

The impact has been felt worldwide, as she won 25 LPGA titles all over the globe and inspired so many girls to play a sport that was little more than a distant dream when she was growing up in Daejeon.

“I think the world of golf and specifically women’s golf owe Se Ri a debt of gratitude,” says Hawaii State Junior Golf Association President Mary Bea Porter-King, who played with Pak on tour. “She and her father started a firestorm in Korea and produced hundreds, if not thousands, of talented golfers winning around the world.

“It just goes to show how one person can make a difference. I hope soon the United States will discover a Se Ri Pak to make the same impact on girls and women’s golf.”

Pak’s accomplishments have been astonishing on the course and go somewhere beyond off it.

In 2007, at 30, she became the youngest to be inducted into both the LPGA and World Golf Halls of Fame. She was the tour’s first Rookie of the Year from South Korea in 1998. Nine have followed, including defending Lotte champ Sei Young Kim.

Pak’s impact on the lone remaining LPGA event in Hawaii is everywhere. Lotte is one of South Korea’s largest businesses. Korean TV — the reason Lotte ends on a Saturday — is the LPGA’s largest single revenue stream.

A year ago, Kim holed out for eagle from 154 yards on the first playoff hole to beat Inbee Park. The top five finishers at Ko Olina were all from South Korea.

At age 10 Park, the 2013 LPGA Player of the Year, watched in South Korea as Pak won the U.S. Open. She decided then that golf would be her future.

The parents of 2015 Player of the Year Lydia Ko, born in Seoul and raised in New Zealand, were also watching. Last Sunday, Ko won her second straight start, and the year’s first major. It is the 20th won by a South Korean golfer since Pak’s debut in 1998.

Kalani graduate Nicole Sakamoto shares Pak’s Korean ethnicity and makes her first Symetra Tour start Friday in Florida. Sakamoto took up golf in 2002 knowing little about Pak. Now she does.

“I know she opened the gates for women in Korea to compete out here,” Sakamoto says. “Now I believe her impact is huge. You can’t go to any event without hearing of a player of Korean descent — AJGA, NCAA, you name it, they’re there.”

Pak’s explanation is that her success helped the game become more accessible, and accepted, back home. Her father, a former professional baseball player, could afford to introduce his daughter to golf. Few other families could, and only a few more ever saw the sport on TV — until 1998.

“After I won the Open, it was everywhere,” Pak says. “Things changed and people saw it as a sport then. Kids grew up watching golf on TV. … Parents had a new goal for their kids.”

To be Se Ri. Pak is a national hero and children’s books are written about her. Her plan now is to go home and help other girls make their “dream come true in a golf business that will put together all the skills and learning experiences.”

Pak’s priority is that this next generation learns balance.

“I’ve learned the most important thing is great balance with your dreams and your life …,” she says. “Now rookies from my country, I always tell them don’t work hard all the time. You are working hard already, you have great talent. Make sure that first you are happy. You don’t want to have that question on your mind. Make sure you like it and all that comes with it. That’s the biggest thing. The first step is balance.”

Wise words from a nearly retired golfer who hasn’t hit 39 yet.

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