Kimberly Kim is one of six Kims playing in today's 36th annual Kraft Nabisco Championship. She is the only one who is an amateur, and whose precocious golf game was born and groomed in Hilo.

Kim, 15, earned her exemption into the LPGA's first major of the year by winning last year's U.S. Women's Amateur championship. She was the youngest to win the national title in its 111-year history.

Kim was also the youngest to qualify for last year's U.S. Women's Open, where she was the youngest to make the cut. Her victory in the 2004 Sun Willows Junior made her the youngest (12) to win an AJGA championship. She was also the youngest to play in the LPGA's first two stops this year, the SBS Open at Turtle Bay and Fields Open in Hawai'i at Ko Olina.

That notoriety counts for little this week at Mission Hills Country Club, in Rancho Mirage, Calif.

"At other places people are more friendly," said Kim, who now lives in Arizona. "In Hawai'i, all the volunteers were really nice. Here, if you're not a pro, you're not as cool."

"Cool" counts for little today. Score is everything, with the field of 101 cut to the low 70 and ties after tomorrow's second round. Kim's expectations sound typically humble, particularly after she missed both cuts here.

"It will be a good experience for me," Kim said. "I'll try my best again. Maybe I'll do better or maybe not."

Her words hide a determination fierce enough to overcome a five-hole deficit when she won the Amateur. Kim has the game and grit to make a name for herself among the pros and volunteers in the desert.

"She's a competitor and a great player and has all the raw talent to get it done," says Turtle Bay Director of Golf Matt Hall, her former coach.

Kim goes out at 10:20 a.m. HST today. Her playing partner is Angela Stanford, who lost a three-way playoff for the 2003 U.S. Women's Open championship. Next week, Kim could be playing with Punahou junior Stephanie Kono in the AJGA's Heather Farr Classic.

"I just want to play better this week and hopefully make the cut," Kim said. "And this year, I want to gain more experience. Then next year I'll probably play better."

Kim's U.S. Amateur title also gets her into the next two LPGA majors — the McDonald's LPGA Championship and the U.S. Women's Open, both in June.

Reach Ann Miller at amiller@honoluluadvertiser.com.