PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas — The Bahamian winds gained such strength overnight into Friday morning that second round play was suspended in the Pure Silk-Bahamas LPGA Classic at the Ocean Club Golf Course.

Sustained winds at 30-35 mph with gusts up to 42 mph forced the stoppage of play at 8:39 a.m. EST. With the forecast calling for continued winds, play was then suspended at 10 a.m. for the remainder of the day. Tournament action will resume on Saturday at 7:30 a.m. EST.

“It’s not shocking that it’s windy,” said Erynne Lee (Silverdale, Washington), who sits at even par and is one of 63 players yet to tee off in the second round. “I think everyone was prepared for it to get windy. I’m still heading to the course to get some repetitions in, and pretty much considering it a practice day.”

Two players from the 2017 Epson Tour graduating class still had to finish their first round this morning and luckily did so. Benyapa Niphatsophon (Bangkok, Thailand), No. 1 in last year’s Race for the Card standings, carded a bogey on the par-5 18th to fall to 3-over par. Meanwhile, Katelyn Dambaugh (North Charleston, S.C.), who started day one on the back nine, recorded a bogey on the par-4 8th to drop to 6-over par.

Lindsey Weaver (Bellefontaine, Ohio) is still pacing the group of graduates, but is now 2-over par. She started day two on the back nine, but surrendered a bogey on the par-3 12th. The former University of Arizona standout is 1-over through five holes in the second round.

“I got to the course at 5:30 this morning and it was howling,” Weaver said. “It is nice to take the rest of the day to just relax and mentally prepare for tomorrow.”

Furthermore, Emma Talley (Princeton, Kentucky) and Hannah Green (Perth, Australia) were two of the 45 individuals in the 108-player field that have yet to start their second round. Each currently sits at 1-over par. They are joined by Yu Liu (Beijing, China), who went 1-over through three with a bogey as well on No. 12 before the horns sounded.

“We knew we were going to have difficult conditions and that the wind was going to be up more than it was yesterday,” said Sue Witters, LPGA Vice President of Rules and Competition. “We got to the point on No. 13 where we could not get a ball to stay at rest on the green.”

Other individuals that began round two include Anne-Catherine Tanguay (Quebec, Canada) and Celine Boutier (Montrouge, France). Tanguay joined Dambaugh at 6-over with a bogey on the par-4 10th to shoot 1-over through three holes. As for Boutier, she remains at 9-over par, staying even through five.

In addition to Lee, Talley and Green, Nanna Koerstz Madsen (Copenhagen, Denmark) also did not see the course today, remaining at 2-over par.

There is still plenty of golf to be played in the second round, but the projected cut is currently 4-over par. As the players wait to get back on the course on Saturday, they have plenty of ways to pass the time.

“I’ll stretch, workout and then take advantage of the food,” Lee said laughingly.

NOTE: Members of the 2017 Epson Tour graduating class that are 2018 LPGA Tour rookies include Hannah Green, Nanna Koerstz Madsen, Yu Liu, Erynne Lee, Lindsey Weaver, Emma Talley and Katelyn Dambaugh.

High Winds suspend second round at Pure Silk-Bahamas LPGA Classic

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