To hear David Ishii tell it, golf has its own circle of life. He is hoping to see its next source of inspiration at next week’s David S. Ishii Foundation/Hawaii High School Athletic Association golf championships.

The girls play Tuesday and Wednesday at Waikoloa Kings’, with the boys teeing off there next Thursday and Friday. Ishii wonders if the next Michelle Wie will show up.

Ishii believes the greatness of golfers like current UCLA All-American Mariel Galdiano and others of her era is linked directly to “the Michelle Wie thing,” when one of the world’s most recognized faces introduced herself at the turn of the century.

“Those kids like Mariel and Allisen (Corpuz) grew up when Michelle Wie got everything exciting,” says Ishii, the 1973 state champion from Kauai High. “They started at 6, 7 or 8, around when Michelle turned pro at 16. That was the time a lot of girls took up golf and became good.

“I think the Michelle Wie thing has worn off a little bit. We need something to charge it up for the excitement to make people play.”

Who could it be?

Punahou’s Claire Choi won the last two girls titles, after former teammates Galdiano and Corpuz graduated, and is now at Santa Clara. Maui senior Reese Guzman was second both years and has one last shot before taking off to play for Pepperdine.

Baldwin sophomore Lana Calibuso-Kwee beat Guzman for the Maui Interscholastic League championship last week. Maybe she is a candidate.

Then again, Malia Nam led Kaiser to four OIA championships, but never won a state high school title. Today, the freshman at top-ranked USC is 13th in Golfweek’s Top 60, just behind Galdiano (10) — the only golfer to three-peat at the state championship — and ahead of Trojan teammate Corpuz (48).

“She was good in junior golf, but never achieved the kind of stuff she’s doing in college,” Ishii says. “Now she’s close to winning and doing well in harder tournaments. That’s amazing. So who knows, if Allisen and Muriel and Malia become good professionals that might create interest.

“But it’s hard to beat Michelle Wie because she was doing it while she was in high school. People were asking who is this sensation? She really did boost junior golf, especially for girls.”

The last seven girls medalists have been from Punahou, which beat ‘Iolani by a shot last year to win its sixth consecutive team championship, and 11th in the last 12 years. Among the medalists from those years are current pros Kacie Komoto, Eimi Koga, Cassy Isagawa and Kristina Merkle.

Names to look out for next week might be Mid-Pacific Institute junior Myah McDonald, who won the ILH championship, and Leilehua freshman Leia Chung, who won the OIA.

Moanalua won the OIA girls team title, but its boys did not — for the first time in 13 years. Five of the last seven state boys medalists played for Moanalua, which has won three of the last seven team titles, including last year. Punahou has won six championships in the last 11 years with ‘Iolani taking the title twice in that span.

This year Kalani won its first OIA title since 1977, led by medalist Curtis Meares. Maryknoll’s Peter Jung took the ILH by a shot over MPI’s Davis Lee and ‘Iolani’s Jacob Torres.

Ishii has no idea what will happen next week. His golf career rose from Kauai to the University of Houston, where he captained the 1977 NCAA championship team. He won the 1977 Manoa Cup and turned pro.

A decade later he was the first foreigner to top the Japan PGA tour money list. He won the 1990 Hawaiian Open and a few years later the HHSAA became a private, non-profit corporation, in search of sponsors for its state championships.

Ishii called it “the perfect time for me to give back,” and he did, out of his own pocket the next few years, before forming his foundation. Its vision is to “ensure support for the HHSAA tournament in perpetuity.” It also provides college scholarships, travel stipends and workshops and clinics.

Since his involvement, the state championships have rotated across resort courses on Oahu, Maui and the island of Hawaii that people come from all over the world come to play, and his home course of Wailua, one of the country’s finest munis.

A bonus this year is that Waikoloa Kings’ is also hosting the IMG Junior World and Aloha Section PGA championship qualifiers next month. That gives next week’s players an extra opportunity to see a course that could be their pathway into two of the most prestigious junior events.

Then again, for one of the rare times in golf, next week is all about playing for a team. And maybe finding a source of Hawaii golf inspiration.