SOUTHERN PINES, N.C. -- One of golf's true grand dammes, a veritable pioneer of the women's professional game, was kicking up her heels in an electric cart when she was approached by a pair of young girls seeking her autograph.

Fresh faces are nothing new on the LPGA Tour as the youth trend continues. (AP)

Ever-spry Peggy Kirk Bell, 85, an LPGA tour original, Pine Needles Lodge owner and a player who once ran with the high-flying likes of Babe Didrikson, asked the eldest of the two girls how old she was. Speaking of babe.

"Twelve," the girl said, shyly.

"So, how come you're not playing?" Bell teased.

At least, we think she was kidding. Sure, the dumb-struck girl looked at Bell like she was nuts, though in the Romper Room that passes for the U.S. Women's Open, the query was hardly a reach.

This week at Pine Needles, temperatures are sure to approach triple digits, which only fits since the Women's Open has once again become a talent incubator. There are 23 teens in the field this week, plus another player who doesn't even reach that modest pubescent standard.

Once again, a new yardstick has been established with regard to the youngest player at the biggest event in women's golf, and this time around, it's 12-year-old Alexis Thompson, who just completed the sixth grade in Coral Springs, Fla. Six years ago, at this very site, a precocious blur of energy named Morgan Pressel played in the Open as a 13-year-old, establishing the age-group mark that Thompson shattered by seven months.

"It was one of those things where you thought, 'That's a one-off,' you're not going to see a 13-year-old at the U.S. Open very often," said Hall of Famer Karrie Webb, who won the Open title at Pine Needles in 2001. "Now I've seen two more 13-year-olds play in the U.S. Open. Golf is definitely becoming a younger game."

With Thompson it's essentially a foursome. Pressel (2001), California's Sydney Burlison (2003) and Hawaii's Michelle Wie (2003) all played in Opens at age 13. Who would have thought that the notion of young would ever get old?

Years back, the LPGA was the first pro tour to offer daycare services. Now they could send the daughters out with their moms. Tiger Woods' daughter Sam is a week old, but don't be surprised if she's already filed her application for the 2008 Open at Interlachen.

Annika Sorenstam met Thompson on Tuesday and cordially greeted the wide-eyed youngster. Sorenstam, No. 3 in the world rankings, is 36 and could easily be Thompson's mom. Had Sorenstam known that one of Thompson's two pet cats is named "Stinky," she might have skipped the handshake.

Thompson, who has routinely shredded older junior competition, said she doesn't watch much women's golf on TV, because she prefers fare such as Disney's Hannah Montana, a show about what child development experts call "tweens."

For aficionados in Florida, the plot should sound familiar. The three South Florida-based writers covering this week's tournament -- or more accurately, chronicling Thompson's every move -- must feel like serial pedophiles. Six years ago, they followed Pressel, another area product, to Pine Needles. She had actually qualified shortly before her 13th birthday.

"I remember I had practiced my autograph in the car, so I had all these different variations of it," Pressel laughed, looking back. "Which one am I going to use?

"It's an overwhelming experience."

Those are terms that the sociology hand-wringers trot out when dissecting the perils and positives associated with tossing a kid into the fire at such an early age. No question, the arguments on both sides of the fence have merit. While it might be short-sighted, from a fan standpoint, the fact that American teens are kicking down developmental doors is a reason to stand and applaud.

Facts are, the teen stream has become the most salable portion of the LPGA from a U.S. marketing perspective. For whatever reason, there was a huge gap or more than a generation between the last wave of American stars, including 40-somethings Meg Mallon, Juli Inkster, Beth Daniel and Rosie Jones. It's finally closing.

Pressel, in April, became the youngest player to win a major, taking the Kraft Nabisco at age 18. Paula Creamer, who won an LPGA event before she graduated from high school and has since turned 20, is No. 7 in the world rankings. In fact, of the five Americans ranked in the top dozen in the world, three are 21 or younger. That list doesn't even include Michelle Wie, 17, who is battling back from a broken wrist.

"I think for a while, that's what the LPGA was lacking," Webb said. "There were no young Americans to carry on from the Juli Inksters, the Beth Daniels -- they are not going to play forever. I think you guys were looking for some young Americans to write about. I think that's the best thing to come along for a long time."

The host U.S. Golf Association isn't cold to the notion of precocious overachievers generating headlines, either. Sure, shortly after Pressel played her way into the 2001 field, they turned their 18-hole Open qualifiers into 36-hole affairs to minimize any potential fluke factor, but when it was suggested that an age standard might be prudent, it was met with shrugs.

"There is a lot of comment on, 'Are you pushing players too soon?'" USGA executive director David Fay said Wednesday. "I expect that if a 12-year-old who makes it here had not made it, she would be playing golf, probably more golf, at home.

"We all know that the world consists of, when summer comes, for most kids, is one summer sports camp after another. I get the sense that the players who are here, nobody is forcing them. And they have the game.

"And I think that, at the end of the day, is really the answer."

In sheer numbers, it's far easier for a young female player to crack a big-league event than for males. Females physically mature earlier -- Wie has been 6-feet for three years -- and the talent pool is not nearly as deep. It's estimated that women account for perhaps 20-25 percent of the overall pool of 25 million American golfers. Clearly, the odds aren't as long for a female teenager to get a spiked foot in the door.

For all of Thompson's girlish giggling this week, she's got some savvy to go along with her game. When she was asked to detail her height and weight, she complied only with the first request, even though it was suggested she was far too young to fret about such vanities.

"Well, I'm 5-6," Thompson said, smiling, "but I don't really feel like giving out my weight."

With that, the grown women in the room broke out in spontaneous applause. Thompson is otherwise so refreshingly naïve -- she has never attended a women's pro event -- that it's unlikely she'll be swept away by the pomp and pageantry.

"I think it's just awesome," said Wie, who began playing in USGA national events at age 10, by way of offering advice. "It's only just a game, anyway."

Well, yes and no. It has morphed into serious business for slightly older teens, who became habitual contenders at Opens in 2003, when Aree Song finished fifth at the Open at age 17. Pressel finished second at the Open in 2005, the same year Wie played in the final group on Sunday at age 15.

But as they say in the stock market, current earnings are no guarantee of future performance. Song, now 21, finished second and fifth in women's majors as a teenage amateur and successfully petitioned the LPGA to join the tour before 18, the minimum age for membership. For whatever reason, though she is still on tour, she has not often been heard from since. Wie is also struggling to find her old groove.

Cracked Pressel of her 2001 experience, when she missed the cut after shooting consecutive 77s: "I wasn't tortured by it."

Veterans believe that balance and perspective -- two things in short supply in some families -- are more crucial to the happiness of the teens than an X-Box, IPod, cell phone or e-mail account.

"I think it all depends on the approach you have," said Sorenstam, who didn't begin playing the game until she was 12. "If you take it as an event where you learn and enjoy the atmosphere, I think that's great. If you start putting pressure on yourself and start having expectations, it's a little too early for that."