Thursday night's raging storm has reduced the Bermuda Open golf championships to a 36-hole tournament after Port Royal was yesterday declared unplayable.

It's believed to be the first time in the history of the $50,000 event that both the first and second rounds have been cancelled because of bad weather.

With tree branches, leaves and other debris littering the Southampton course, and sand bunkers and greens in disarray, Government work crews spent much of yesterday attempting to repair the damage.

Organisers, however, were hopeful that - weather permitting - the first players would be able to tee off shortly after 7.40 this morning.

An Open spokeswoman said: "It's going to be a 36-hole event, 18 holes on Saturday and 18 on Sunday, and there will be no cut.

"They (work crews) are confident they can get the course ready in time. But there's been a lot of damage, trees are down, branches are strewn across the course and the bunkers are full of debris."

The scheduled first round on Thursday was abandoned because of high winds and torrential rain after more than a third of the 70-plus field had already completed their round.

And that remained a source of controversy yesterday as several players contended that scores posted should have stood and those still out on the course should have been required to mark their ball when play was abandoned and then complete their round whenever play resumed.

Under United States Golf Association (USGA) rules, that would have been deemed as the correct decision.

However, members of the Open tournament committee, who were not obliged to follow USGA rules, decided because of the conditions and the forecast of worsening weather, to scrap all first round play and start anew.

One who thought otherwise was defending champion and former PGA Tour player Tim Conley, who had made the turn at even par and was only three over after 15 holes when play was called off.

"Personally, I think every time you play a tournament you have to make the best effort to play 72 holes," said Conley. "I think every stroke played should count, whether you're playing good or bad.

"I wish they (tournament committee) had not been so quick to cancel. I think they should have suspended play and then thought about it. And then if they still thought to cancel was the right decision, then so be it. But suspension allows the best effort to be made to ensure as many holes can be played as possible."

As for the decision to reduce the tournament to 36-holes rather than attempt to squeeze in three or even four rounds over the weekend, Conley agreed more players would now be in contention with a play-off likely.

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"The better players come to the top when there are more holes to play," said Conley. "I'm not saying if someone we don't know wins this tournament, he's not a pretty good player. Obviously you're going to have to beat 10 or 12 of us to win anyway. But 36 holes involves in a little more luck, rather than patience.

"I've never had the first round lead in this tournament. I've always been right there, but I've been patient and over a period of time, have made less mistakes and been able to win.

"But now it'll be a shoot-out. I wouldn't be surprised if it was a two of three-way play-off.

"Now I have to hit driver a couple more times than I usually would. Patience, my strong point, goes right out of the window. I have to be a little more aggressive, which is not my style. But I suppose whoever makes the most putts is likely to win anyway."

Meanwhile, the Open wasn't the only casualty of yesterday's hurricane-force winds.

Mid Ocean Club have closed their course for the weekend and postponed today's President's Cup tournament because of damage suffered on the course, and the novices event scheduled for Southampton Princess has also been called off as workers there attempt to clean up.

Elsewhere in sport, a fallen utility pole at BAA has forced closure of that field for the weekend, forcing the BFA to switch tomorrow's FA Cup tie between Vasco Mariners and Somerset to Somerset CC.