NASSAU, Bahamas, May 23, 2013 (AFP) - Workers continued Thursday to try to remove water from drenching rainstorms that has flooded parts of the ninth, 15th, 16th, 17th and 18th holes, while organizers plotted a new course route past the Ocean Club's unplayable holes.
Needing a minimum of 36 holes to have an official event, officials hope to complete a minimum of 12 holes on Saturday and 12 on Sunday with a reassessment of playable holes after each day's play.
As a result, there will be no cut this week but the low 70 and level will earn official prize money provided 36 holes are completed.
"When you have a situation like this, you bring everyone together that you trust and you make the decision," LPGA commissioner Michael Whan said.
"It's fair if someone doesn't like the decision we made, but I think this outcome is a lot better than any other alternative. Everybody who plays the next three days will play the same course."
All players will start from the 10th tee on Friday, then play the sixth and seventh holes, followed by the fourth and fifth holes. Golfers then return to the back nine to play 11-14 before moving to the second and third and finishing on the eighth.
The Bahamas event had been scheduled to start Thursday, but it was reduced to 54 holes and the start delayed to Friday after heavy rains flooded the course on Tuesday.
Hall of Famer Juli Inkster said players owed it to sponsors to try and play.
"This is something that has never happened before and it probably never will happen again," Inkster said. "I think we should play, money should be official and everyone should get on with it."
World number two Stacy Lewis of the United States adopted the same approach.
"There is good and bad to the situation and you have to decide if your glass is half full or half empty," Lewis said.
"At the end of the day, we'll all play the same holes, same course and be scored the same way. That's a golf tournament."
There have been 15 36-hole LPGA events since 1963, most recently in 2007 in South Korea.
This is not the first time that fewer than 18 holes would be played in an LPGA round. At the 1989 Kemper Open, a 16-hole layout was used in the first round after heavy rains. In all, 52 holes were completed with Betsy King the winner.