Lougee, Gauvain prevail at Gannon

LYNN – Whoever came up with the plotlines for most of the tournaments at Gannon Golf Course this year seems to like having high drama and plenty of help from Mother Nature.For the third time, a major tournament at Gannon was bothered by heavy rains and a sudden death playoff was needed to decide the Gannon Gold Classic.After surviving a day marked by heavy rains and a long rain delay, three teams needed extra holes to decide the winner with Art Lougee’s birdie on the second hole giving him and partner Bruce Gauvain, after trailing by six shots entering the day, the win over John Lynch Jr.-Matt Civiello and Randy Crompton-Paul MacDonald.For Gauvain, it marks a sweep of the Gold and Silver Classics and the partnership also teamed to reach the semifinals of the Gannon 4-Ball earlier this summer.Lynch Jr. and Civiello had a chance to win the tournament on the final hole of regulation, but both missed putts on the 18th green. The three teams then headed out to the par-4 first hole, where Lougee sank a 30-foot snake to keep his team alive.The short par-4 second proved to be the decider as Lougee stuck a sand iron to four feet and rolled home the winning putt.The dramatic finish came after an opening round that saw a boatload of teams come into Sunday with a chance to win. Lynch-Civiello had the lead at 7-under 63, with 11 teams within four shots.Behind the three teams at 8-under in the playoff, it was another logjam as Barry Eagar-Neil Richardson; Vic Grasso-Kevin MacDonald; Tom Fabrizio-Clark Morrison; Bill Granara-Mike Ostrowski; James Friedman-George Lennon and Bob Trepsas Jr.-Dick Donahue all finished one shot out of the playoff.