Tiger Visits The Cliffs at High Carolina® Golf Course Planned Opening in late 2011

Tiger Woods and Jim Anthony, founder of The Cliffs, give a walking tour of the golf course being designed by Woods at The Cliffs at High Carolina near Asheville. (John Fletcher/jfletcher@citizen-times.com)

SWANNANOA — The same competitive spirit that has enabled Tiger Woods to win 14 major championships and a total of 71 times on the PGA Tour is apparent when he discusses his work as a course designer.

Woods conducted a walking tour for selected members of the media on Saturday at The Cliffs at High Carolina, his first American design. While the project is still in its infancy, several areas have been cleared where fairways will be built.

He already has redesigned the ninth hole three times to take advantage of optimum sunlight. In the end Woods wants a course that players won't forget.

“You can create something that people will remember and want to come back to; that's the whole objective as a designer — to create something fun and challenging but something where people say, ‘Hey, I want to come back and do this again,'” Woods said Saturday morning after arriving at the top of the mountain in a helicopter.

“Not all golf courses are like that, but that's something I want to be able to deliver to all of my golf courses.”

Woods also emphasized the importance of having breathtaking views, which this course won't lack. At one point during the tour Woods stood in the middle of what will be the 18th fairway and looked at distant mountains.

“I keep saying I'm from L.A. and you don't see 50-mile views,” he said.

John Nachreiner, construction superintendent of High Carolina, said the scenery is very important to Woods.

“Tiger will do everything he can to enhance those views throughout the course,” Nachreiner said.

Woods' design company has routed the course 30 times so High Carolina has southern exposure on every hole, which would allow for earlier start times after a frost.

Jim Anthony, founder of the Cliffs Communities, accompanied Woods on his walk. The two later entertained prospective buyers in a covered tent just off the18th green. Anthony said he is still holding out hope for the course to be completed in fall of 2011.

Woods said building a course similar to links courses where players don't have to worry about long carries is important to him because it will appeal to players of all skill levels.

Asheville featured in U.S. News & World Report

America's Best Affordable Places to Retire

Soon-to-be retirees are resetting their expectations for their golden years

By Emily Brandon

Posted: September 28, 2009

Much of that activity revolves around the University of Michigan, whose 40,000 undergraduate and graduate students account for about a third of Ann Arbor's population. And needless to say, the retiree population includes plenty of voluble Wolverine fans. Bill and Janet Cassebaum met in Ann Arbor in the 1950s, when he was a law student at Michigan and she was an undergrad. They married in town, then moved to eastern Pennsylvania, where Bill practiced law for 40 years. They finally returned to Ann Arbor after retiring in 1998—and still haven't had their fill of college sports. The couple regularly takes in baseball, basketball, and of course football at Michigan Stadium, which seats more than 100,000 and is known as the Carnegie Hall of sports. The games (and tailgate parties) help draw their two teenage grandsons for a visit. Their 5-year-old granddaughter prefers the local parks and the Hands-On science museum.

The Cassebaums also spend time behind the scenes helping to organize some of the local activity. Janet, 75, is active in the Ann Arbor City Club and recently ran a fundraising campaign to help renovate a historic building in town. Bill, 78, volunteers as a timer for college track meets, a pleasant reminder of his days as a high-jumper. "It's low-level," he says, "but I can still participate in athletics."

Asheville, North Carolina

America's Best Affordable Places to Retire

Nestled in a pocket of the Blue Ridge Mountains, two hours away from any major city, Asheville, N.C., might be assumed to lack culture and polish. Not so. On any given Friday night, you might stumble upon a street-corner bluegrass band, an art gallery opening, a festival (if you're lucky, the Mountain Dance and Folk Festival), and maybe even a mime. "Life is never dull here," says Sheila Murphy, who retired to Asheville in 2003 with her husband, Dennis, after moving 31 times (he worked in the oil business). "You can do things for free, for a nominal fee, or a donation, and see all kinds of plays, shows, and music should you desire."

Retirement is definitely not ho-hum for the Murphys, who hold cooking classes in their home. They teach slicing-and-dicing skills and sessions on making holiday dinners, using leftovers, and grilling. The classes are offered through the local North Carolina Center for Creative Retirement, which runs a sort of "college for seniors" in which members pay $115 for two months of unlimited classes. They're held at the center, members' homes, and on campus at the University of North Carolina-Asheville.

On Saturdays, you'll find Jan Moran—who recently came out of retirement and works as a marketing consultant—at one of Asheville's farmers' markets stocking up on veggies and grass-fed local beef. "It's the best-quality food, and it's also a social experience," says Moran, who moved to Asheville from Tucson, Ariz., more than two years ago after her husband, Paul Rollins, revealed a "secret desire to return to North Carolina," where he had grown up. (Jan was sold on the area after a visit.) The market's organic produce is often more expensive than at the local grocery, "but the meat I buy comes farm to market, and the people charge less than at the store," she says.

As visitors have discovered, a trip to Asheville's extravagant Biltmore Estate comes at an extravagant price: $55, and no senior discount. But if it's absorbing architecture you're after, the city is dotted with unique buildings, including the Art Deco city hall, the breathtaking Spanish Baroque Basilica of St. Lawrence, and the Jackson Building, a gargoyle-flanked, neo-Gothic masterpiece. Admission, of course, is gratis.

Real estate in this mountain enclave is pricier than in many cities of its size, but a drive down the winding Blue Ridge Parkway, a frozen custard at the Grove Arcade, or a lazy afternoon spent listening to drummers in Pritchard Park are reminders that everyday life in this laid-back town is easy on the wallet. The secret about Asheville may be out, with more and more retired people flocking to the city, but as retiree Fred Teach puts it, "Asheville's still a gem. It's magnificent."