One of the largest bass tournaments anywhere in the United States will be held Thursday through Saturday out of Dayton Boat Dock on Chickamauga Lake. It is the Heartland Anglers 2012 Classic, and right at 300 boats with two anglers each had registered with a week remaining. Hotel rooms in Rhea County are maxed out. The participants will be coming from six Southeastern states -- Alabama, Kentucky, Virginia and the Carolinas as well as Tennessee -- and had to qualify to be eligible. The top prize will be a 2012 Margay Bass Cat boat. The Heartland organization bills itself as an amateur-based team trail serving the "Average Everyday Angler."
Golf
• The United States threesome that includes University of Tennessee at Chattanooga senior golfer Steven Fox is eight strokes ahead of second-place France, the defending champion, part way through the third and now final round of the World Amateur Team Championship at Antalya, Turkey. With only six of the 72 teams finishing the second round Friday, the competition was shortened to 54 holes and half the countries started round three Saturday. Counting the two best scores each day, the U.S. trio of first-place and world No. 1 amateur Chris Williams, world No. 3 Justin Thomas and U.S. Amateur champ Fox are 24 under par through seven holes of round three. Williams and Thomas each was 2 under for those seven holes, and Fox was even. Fox, who changed putters just before this event, said he "putted really well today. I put in a new putter for this week and I finally got it going. I've done it countless times. I guess it's called 'new putter syndrome.' It just gives me confidence.
• Fox's UTC teammates are tied for 11th with Georgia State going into the final round of the 15-team Brickyard Collegiate Championship at the Riverside course in Macon, Ga. After having the Mocs' drop score Friday, Benni Weilguni led them Saturday with an even-par 72 and is tied for 42nd individually at 149 with freshman Michael Monroe, four shots behind Chris Robb's 20th-place tie. The other two Mocs, Liam Johnston and Davis Bunn, are tied for 48th at 151. Georgia is the team leader by nine shots at 568.
• Dalton's David Noll Jr. is in the final match of the 94th Atlanta Amateur Match Play Championship after beating Canton's Justin Johnson 6 and 4 and then downing Roswell's Billy Mitchell 5 and 3. Noll, the reigning Georgia Mid-Amateur champion, will take on Atlanta's Tripp H'Doubler today at Rivermont Golf and Country Club at Johns Creek, Ga. H'Doubler's semifinal victory was 2 and 1 over 2011 winner Brandon Nelson of Roswell.
Volleyball
• Karrian Chambers, Olivia Humphries and Morgan Freeman downed 19, 17 and 14 kills as UNC Greensboro beat UTC 25-19, 26-28, 25-20, 25-17 in Southern Conference volleyball Saturday night. Emily McMurtrey had 52 assists and 13 digs for the Spartans (9-8, 4-2). Heather Parman led the Mocs (8-13, 2-4) with 10 kills, while Christina Teter added nine and Sarah Batterton and Briana Reid had eight apiece. Bridget Camacho had 33 assists and Paula Passmore and Melissa Green had 25 and 16 digs in defeat.
• Kristen Pickett from Cleveland High School had 37 assists against Erskine and 43 plus 13 digs against King in 3-0 and 3-1 volleyball victories for Carson-Newman (8-7) on Saturday at King College. Rachel Harper from Boyd-Buchanan added 15 kills in the King match to her six against Erskine. Payton Tipton from Cleveland had 18 digs against CN for King (12-10).
Tennis
• Former French Open (twice) and Wimbledon doubles champion Brian Gottfried, who prepped at Baylor School, stopped by and talked to the UTC men's tennis team for about 30 minutes Friday. He told the Mocs about the dedication and approach to the game that got him as high as No. 3 in the world rankings. The former Trinity University All-American was a French Open singles runner-up in 1977, when he won in doubles after doing also in 1975, and had 25 singles and 95 pro doubles titles. "It was certainly an honor to have someone like Brian Gottfried come by and talk to our team," Mocs coach Carlos Garcia said. "He is one of the best players this country has produced." Said senior Manuel Barroetavena: "To have someone of his ability come talk to the team is tremendous."
General
• The speaker for the Chattanooga Quarterback Club's noon luncheon meeting Monday at Finley Stadium will be Bob Neal, an award-winning sportscaster who hosts the "Talkin Football" program that CSS televises on Sunday nights. Attendance costs $10 with a meal, $4 without, and the public is invited.