It wasn’t long ago at all when the Lotte Championship was one of the new kids on the block of the Hawaii sports scene.

And, with the precedent of so many LPGA sponsors coming and going after just a couple of years (anybody remember Cup Noodles?), there was skepticism about how long this one would last.

But, now, at Hoakalei Country Club with its 11th edition after a 2020 pandemic break, the Lotte tournament has bonded with Hawaii, the LPGA tour and — perhaps most importantly — TV audiences, especially in Korea and on the U.S. continent.

Those roots will continue to grow, as an agreement in principle has been reached to extend the Lotte Championship through the 2026 tournament, an LPGA spokesperson confirmed.

That will put Lotte to within one year of the 1987-2001 LPGA run of the Hawaiian Ladies Open. One difference is that tournament had six different naming-rights sponsors.

Lotte is based in South Korea, but is a worldwide conglomerate that sells everything from candy to chemicals, with its hands in the realms of retail, construction, manufacturing, tourism and finance.

Let’s just say there’s a whole lotta Lotte, everywhere.

And the strength of that brand has helped provide stability for this event.

But what if some folks at the Legislature get their way, and the Hawaii Tourism Authority is replaced by a state government agency that does business differently, with different rules, and maybe won’t throw as much support toward golf?

Hopefully if there is a change, the state will see the wisdom in not messing with things that aren’t broken — and help generate lots of visitor spending. Remember, it’s not so much the people who come for the event itself, but the much larger number who come because they saw it on TV.

The first seven Lotte winners played under the flags of six different countries (Americans Michelle Wie and Cristie Kerr were the only ones from the same country).

Golfers at least originally from Korea (or, in the case of Wie, of Korean descent), won five of the first 10 championships. That must make the Lotte bosses happy.

And after Wednesday’s first round defending champion Hyo Joo Kim of — you guessed it, Korea — is tied for third at 4-under par, two shots behind Frida Kinhult of Sweden and Natthakritta Vongtaveelap from Thailand at 6-under.

Someone at the LPGA deserves a raise, or at least a bonus, for grouping Kim with two-time Lotte champion Brooke Henderson, and Allisen Corpuz from Kapolei.

They attracted about 75 fans who followed as all three broke par. It was a very impressive gallery for a Wednesday morning.

In case you were wondering, Hyo Jook Kim (not to be confused with 2015 victor Sei Young Kim) and Kerr are the only champions among the five players who have appeared in all 11 Lotte tournaments.

I was curious about that, and ace media coordinator Candice Kraughto handed me a sheet of paper with the answer on it before I could finish spitting out the request.

She also explained to me the presence of some young energetic and well-organized people who are very adept with camera equipment and microphones. Their shirts say Marauder Media, so my guess that they’re from Waipahu High School was right.

The student journalists, under the guidance of teachers Bryant Murakami and Scott Alquisa, have helped document Lotte and the Sony Open for the tournaments’ social media platforms. They have also provided video for local TV stations’ sports reports.

“We wanted to help focus on Allisen today. It’s a truly rewarding feeling to see my work and the work of Marauder Media out there,” said senior Tia Capron, part of a team that also includes Jamby dela Cuesta, Joanne Gandule, Lathan Guzman and Calla Cheung.

Although not interviewing pro golfers yet, even kids at Capron’s alma mater, Kaleiopuu Elementary, are getting in on the media act, she said.

Hey, why not? Wasn’t Wie about 10 years old when she started playing with the big girls and boys?