BARRINGTON — Usually, there are no compromises in golf.

The rules are the rules. Everyone plays by them. Golfers pride themselves on following the rules and, if necessary, calling penalties on themselves when the need arises.

The CVS Caremark Charity Classic is one of the rare exceptions, at least in one respect.

The ninth CVS, which begins this morning at 10:30 at Rhode Island Country Club, will have a major compromise in place. It is brought on by the presence of Juli Inkster and Natalie Gulbis as one of the 10 two-player teams. They will be the first women ever to compete in the tournament proper.

If this were a tour event, there would be no discussion. The women would play the same course as the men, no questions asked. But this is not a tour event of any kind. It is a charity tournament played under the auspices of the PGA. Its officials oversee play, but the tournament is to determine its rules.

Having Inkster and Gulbis competing sparked a debate, one that was not settled until the last few days. It was still being finalized yesterday during the event’s pro-am. The question is, from which tees should the women compete? That is, should they use the same tees as the men? Or should they hit from more forward tees to make up for the longer distances the men hit the ball? That would, in theory, give the women an equal chance to win.

There was no precedent to rely on. Tourney officials say it brought on a delicate discussion.

While the Classic is a fun event, it is a competition. There is $1.35 million at stake. Each of the 10 two-player teams obviously is out to win. There were those who felt everyone should compete equally. As some pointed out, the men who play the Champions Tour, in this case Dana Quigley, Lee Trevino, Peter Jacobsen and defending champion Nick Price, do not receive any advantage.

Most weeks, they play shorter courses than those used on the PGA Tour. But here every competitor who has taken part, including Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player, played from the same tees.

On the other hand, there were those who insisted that doing so would make it extremely difficult for the women to compete. While Rhode Island Country Club is not nearly as long as a PGA Tour course — at about 6,500 yards it actually is closer in distance to courses used on the LPGA Tour — it simply is not reasonable to expect any woman to compete with the world’s best men on even footing. The experience of Annika Sorenstam and Michelle Wie has proven that, those on that side of the argument pointed out. There would be holes where the men might be hitting wedges to greens while the women were hitting longer clubs.

Even the two women involved had different views when asked about it yesterday.

“It doesn’t matter to me,” Inkster responded when asked about the issue. “I grew up on a golf course similar to this that played about 6,800 yards. It doesn’t matter to me either way. We’re here to raise money for charity. That’s the bottom line.”

Gulbis was a bit more outspoken.

“It’s big-time,” Gulbis said of the difference. “The guys outhit us by a ton, by 50 or 60 yards. If we’re 50 or 60 yards behind them, they’ll be hitting wedge and we’ll be hitting 5- or 6-iron.”

In keeping with the general feeling of the event, the final decision was to compromise.

“There will be some holes where the women will play from the same tees as the men and others where they will play from forward tees,” said Greg Costello, the tournament director.

“The big thing in this tournament is that we want everyone to have fun. We want it to be fair to everyone,” said co-host Billy Andrade before heading out for the afternoon session of the pro-am. “That’s what we’re going to do.”

Even as the pro-am was being contested yesterday, officials had the women hitting from different tees. They saw where shots ended up. As Andrade said, the goal is to try to make the competition fair for everyone.

“They’re going to set it up similar to the Wendy’s event,” Gulbis said. In that competition, the three-tour challenge in which the LPGA, Champions Tour and PGA Tour compete against each other, players from each tour use different tees.

“They have it so when they’ll be hitting an 8-iron, we’ll have an 8-iron,” Gulbis said. “It gives us an equal chance to compete.”

That will be the goal today at RICC.

pkenyon@projo.com