For reasons that became more vivid as the day progressed, this year’s Hawaii Golf Industry Conference was not your grandfather’s golf conference.

The game is 562 years old. Last Thursday at The Kahala Hotel was the 20th anniversary of an event that strives to bring together all Hawaii golf’s diverse elements.

In the past the conference, co-sponsored by the Aloha Section PGA and Hawaii Golf Alliance, focused much more on play and players. This time the clear focus was the business of golf and how to sustain the game for the next generations.

Especially in Hawaii.

“The view by many is the game is too big to fail, which is not true,” ASPGA Executive Director Wes Wailehua said. “Every system fails at some point and it’s really up to us as stewards of the industry to recognize the challenges and plan for a sustainable future so the next generation can share what this game has to offer the world.”

Crucial subjects such as time, forward tee yardages, enjoyment, charity, the radical rise of junior golf and Top Golf, the women’s market, ambience and environment were all part of the discussions at the conference.

Guest speaker Seth Waugh, PGA of America CEO, characterized his game as “an $85 billion industry that needs change.”

But the changes that dominated the day were about the business of golf, particularly the golf travel business in Hawaii.

“The purpose of the conference is to provide a business forum for all the stakeholders of our industry and affiliated industries to gather together in one room to hear about opportunities and trends happening in the game,” said conference chair Greg Nichols, from Ko Olina, “as well as any potential threats to our game and industry from respected industry leaders and spokespersons.”

Topics included “Developing an Aloha Culture,” with Ka’ala Souza comparing golf’s need to “share common values” with conflicts that were overcome in the early days of the Hokule’a.

Jason Straka, of Fry/Straka Global Golf Course Design, spoke about “The Shape of Success.” He pointed to the two million jobs the game provides and the $4 billion it donates to charity, then admitted golf has to update its “experiences” and “environmental initiatives” and spoke of yearly memberships, “3-hole loops” and music and hoverboards on the course.

“The Traveling Game” panel, brought in by PGA Magazine, was a foursome of West Coast PGA pros and amateur association executive directors who deal heavily in “leisure travel experiences.”

They talked a lot about what Hawaii needs to do to “remain relevant in the travel market.” So did Hawaii Visitors &Convention Bureau CEO John Monahan, who called golf travelers “a bull’s-eye target for Hawaii,” and Wailehua, who had received a paltry 38 percent return on his Economic Impact Report queries.

The golf report is only done every 10 years and answers are confidential. Hawaii hotels had the same problem initially with their reports, but now gather data monthly and hear from 86 percent of their properties.

“Today is when we start the journey to improve our industry,” Wailehua said. “Hopefully we will build from here.”

Nichols promises to reach out more to golf’s affiliated industries — “hotel and hospitality, tourism and our Legislature.” The Traveling Game speakers agreed that Hawaii is No. 1 in every survey for golf travel, but problems connecting with hotels and properties with more than one course have the state lagging in the number of tour groups that come here to play. The visitor count is up, but the golfing visitor count is down.

Wailehua is adamant about “creating demand and interest to our island home by tying golf around family experiences” and culture. He believes there is a need to create a group, as Hokule’a did, that will “share best practices and establish a common goal as well as message.”

“I think many people feel that I am in the business of running tournaments or building courses for tourists to play,” he said. “In actuality, I am in the business of people and creating cultural experiences through the game of golf.

“Many Hawaii families, communities and organizations reach out to a PGA Professional every year to help fund-raise money through charity tournaments or give back in donations to the community. The game exemplifies the core values of the Aloha Spirit — give back to people without asking anything in return.”

Waugh believes that and agreed about the crucial need for sharing data to sustain the game. He was also open to providing more pay and benefits for pros to help “make the game look more like the world” and cure a labor shortage, and hosting an international championship in Hawaii because “this is the closest bridge.”

All that would be very new and different.

“We’ve said no a lot,” Waugh admitted. “We can’t be a grandparent’s organization, protecting our parents’ game. We are working now for your kid’s kid.

“A lot of it is figuring out how to be more welcoming.”

In other words, Wailehua said, “do what’s pono for this industry … and the kids.”