The onus goes on tournament director Michael Goldstein to knit together an agreement allowing the event to be held in conjunction with its Australian counterpart, while keeping alive investment from Auckland Tourism, Events and Economic Development, an arm of Auckland Council.
In the original deal, Ateed was prepared to invest $1 million per year from 2017-2019. That was conditional on hosting the tournament in a September-November window outside peak tourist periods.
Another option is to hold it in April, to coincide with Hawaii's LOTTE Championship.
If the date changes to ease players' travel commitments - and present the prospect of better weather - Goldstein's event management company The Clubhouse could be faced with meeting a funding shortfall. Ateed would be within their rights to review the change in contract. An economic analysis of the tournament's contribution to the region is due this month.
"We're working behind the scenes on what the next tournament is going to look like," Goldstein told Radio Sport.
"It's been well-documented that the tournament's been looking to move to summer - that hasn't been a secret.
"The LPGA have made it clear that they see the tournament at the start of the year and that would be a good outcome if we can make it sustainable."
Goldstein said the challenge was a commercial one.
"Having events at that time of the year is not always that straight-forward.
"We're working through what the pros and cons of the event were with our sponsors and stakeholders. All of those conversations will flow into what the future date will be.
"Having golf events move from late one year to 14-15 months ahead is not unprecedented.
"It's happened a number of times with the men's open.
"If the event moves to 2019, that's what we'll see."
