I have been to Cambrian Ridge for a number of occasions but never to play golf at the highly rated Robert Trent Jones course. That being said, I have actually played golf – or should I say, played at it.

You see, I’ve never been gifted as an athlete of any sort. I’m the kind of person who trips over a pattern in the rug, a klutz of the first order, the last to be picked for the team. P.E. used to be my personal nightmare. Let me tell you, flunking the President’s Physical Fitness Test ever year, year in, year out, got pretty depressing.

When I was in school at Troy, I had to take three P.E. courses as part of my required coursework. One of my choices was golf. I figured it couldn’t possibly be as boring to play, as it was to watch on T.V. (programming to snooze by, in my opinion).

Actually, it was fun. I got to enjoy fresh air and sunshine and get some exercise. I did a lot of chasing after those little white dimpled balls – I knocked them into the sand, into the water, into the woods and, every so rarely, onto the green (that is, when I actually made contact with the darned things).

I’m afraid I excavated more than a little of the expensive TSU turf with my clubs (but not nearly as much as a classmate who wore stiletto-heeled pumps. The groundskeepers really loved her).

I did actually excel at one aspect of the game – putting. I even won the class &uot;putt-off&uot; one day. Too bad they didn’t give away trophies for that competition. Then I’d have at least one brief, shining moment of athletic glory to hold on to.

Ah well, I’ll never be a championship golfer, but at least I can take solace in one fact: I may have been a klutz with the clubs, but at least I was sharp enough not to wear high heels doing it.

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A good time was had by the many folks who turned out for the gala benefit and silent auction at Cambrian Ridge last weekend. The ladies of the arts council had a blast trying on the gorgeous coats from Henig Furs (we can all dream, can’t we?).

There was a wonderful selection of items on which to bid and quite a few attendees turned up in their glittering purple, green and gold duds (next week I’ll tell you why those are the traditional Mardi Gras colors…the teacher in me just won’t die).

Here’s hoping you have a lovely Valentine’s Day this weekend!

Angie Long is the Lifestyles writer for the Greenville Advocate.

She can be reached at 382-3111 or via email at angie.long@greenvilleadvocate.com.

Also, write her c/o Greenville Advocate, P.O. Box 507, Greenville, AL 36037.