Steven Fox visited Carpet City Rotary today.  Steven is originally from  Hendersonville, Tennessee is an American amateur golfer who won the 2012 U.S. Amateur. Fox attended Hendersonville High School and currently attends the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and told Carpet City Rotarians that he has missed six weeks of school this year because of tournament play and travel. Steven won the 2012 U.S. Amateur at Cherry Hills Country Club on the 37th hole after being down two with two holes to play. Fox was the 63rd player to qualify for match play. He had to survive a 17-man playoff for 14 spots in stroke play to qualify for the match play of the U.S. Amateur. With the win, Fox qualified for the 2013 Masters Tournament, 2013 U.S. Open, and 2013 Open Championship provided he maintained his amateur status.

Steven described his experience of playing in the masters as a lifetime achievement for him and an extremely emotionally moving experience.  He played with "Bubba" Watson, Jr., but was eliminated after the first round.  Fighting back tears, he described his experience of sharing the first day with his father and expressed his gratitude to his family for their support throughout his life.  It was an, “emotionally terrific experience.”  Fighting nerves from the line-up paring with Bubba, and with Tiger Woods playing right behind, was a little bit intimidating.  “Off the Tee, the course isn’t that bad, but the greens are extremely difficult,” said Fox.  “You don’t get a lot of spin because they cut the grain right into you so you’re not getting a lot of roll-off.  Missing the cut was number five, the second day, I went against Ben’s judgment and ended up making double (always trust your caddy), that was kind of the turning point, but you can’t really have a bad week at the masters.”  During pre-match play, Fox played with Phil Mickelson, and learned a lot from him.  He describes Mickelson as, “an outgoing, great guy, who runs his own sports management agency. Phil’s probably my favorite player right now. What you see is what you get with him.  One of the big things I learned from Phil is that, you practice each shot that you could have, so that you are not surprised in the tournament.  You should hit your practice shots with a purpose.  Phil’s short game is phenomenal.”  Steven is planning now for his next 6 weeks of play regionals, the Colonial in Fort Worth, TX, then Nationals, the St. Jude tournament in Memphis, TN, and then the US Open in Marion, PA and then and hopefully a little vacation right after that.

I did not get to see most of the Rotary members at the completion of our Basketball event last Friday, but I wanted to extend a "Thank you".  As always, we can not hold our competitions without our volunteers.  The Rotary continues to be a fantastic group of volunteers and we look forward to seeing each of you at all of our competitions. 

Please mark your calendars for Friday, April 26th at Coahulla Creek High School.  This will be our Spring Track and Field Competition.  We would also like to extend an invitation to the Ringgold Rotary if you guys are interested in having them come volunteer with us that day.  As you know, that competition takes over 100 volunteers. 

Thanks again for the continued support!

-Laura Ogas

Anthony Cline has joined Carpet City Rotary.  He is the Operations Manager for Carpet America Recover Effort.  Everyone please take a moment and get to know our new member, Anthony.  

Rotary Leadership Institute

FOR ALL ROTARIANS

Dalton, GA
September 15, 2012

Augusta, Ga
October 13, 2012

Athens, GA
February 2, 2013

Fellowship - Collaboration - Promotion - Learning

A grassroots, multi-district development program whose mission is

to strengthen Rotary Clubs through quality leadership education.

Recently Paradise Arabians began hosting events such as corporateannual meetings, dinners, and events on their grounds.  The couple invites groups of all ages andsizes to book a date at the facility and marvel at the majestic beauty of thesehorses.  Agri-Tourist Groups, Schools,companies, and individuals are welcome. 

Carpet City Rotary welcomed Tom Pinson with the Dalton Community Center this week as the featured speaker.  Mr. Pinson gave updates on the status of thecommunity center, with proposed completion dates and a tour of the newfacility.

Dr. Jim Hawkins spoke to Carpet City Rotary Monday about Dalton Public Schools mission and how the overcrowding issues at the middle school are reaching a point where something has to be done.

Join us for this month's speakers:

August 15th - Dr. Jim Hawkins

August 22nd - Rotary District Governor Visit

August 29th - Matt Land

September 5th - Holiday! (no meeting)