Woods has one measure of success, history another. For developers, the course is the engine that drives the ultimate goal: real estate sales. Like the Cliffs, Discovery Land Company builds upscale golf properties, including Mountaintop in Cashiers, North Carolina. Discovery employs Fazio exclusively for its course designs, having gone so far as to buy a project with an existing Greg Norman course before replacing it with a Fazio layout.

“Tom is an extension of our company,” says Discovery Land CEO Michael Meldman. “He knows what our market is and creates aesthetic courses that both low and high handicappers can enjoy.”

A-list architects like Fazio and Nicklaus are in demand because of their proven work and ability to sell real estate. “The golf course architect is very important,” says Matt Shulz of Sky Sotheby’s International Realty, which handles upscale real estate in Sarasota, Florida, including at the Founders Club. “A high-end designer brings validation to the project as well as marketing power to the resale proposition.”

According to Sara Killeen of the Longitudes Group, which has done studies of golf communities, real estate at properties with courses by name architects has appreciated 10 to 15 percent more in the past decade than other real estate in the same area.Without an existing Tiger course, most of Woods’ value for the Cliffs lies in his name, image and reputation—assets he has sold to companies like Nike and General Motors for years. “I’m not completely oblivious to marketing,” Anthony jokes. Indeed, the Cliffs has used Woods’ name and image in national print ads, as well as television spots during the FedEx Cup.

As marketable as Woods is in print and in television ads, whether bouncing a ball off his wedge or hunting gophers, he is more compelling in person. At his presentation at Walnut Cove, Woods won over Cliffs property owners, who are first in line for buying lots at High Carolina.

“I’m not a big Tiger fan,” says David Griefe, who is building a house at Walnut Cove. “But he truly was an impressive guy. He was very articulate, came across as genuine and really engaged the crowd. There was a real sense of excitement among the members.”

Cliffs members are not the only ones in the area looking forward to Woods’ project. Just as Woods’ ripple effect has made fellow tour pros richer, nearby communities hope to draft off the Cliffs. “Tiger puts western North Carolina on the map,” says Barton Tuck, developer of Bright’s Creek Golf Club in Mill Spring, not far from High Carolina. “We have been trying to feed off the Cliffs’ advertising.”

The western Carolinas is one of the busiest regions for golf community development in the U.S. In addition to the courses planned at the Cliffs, there are projects by  Arnold Palmer, Phil Mickelson and Tom Kite under construction. At the epicenter of this growth is Anthony, the man who went from fixing phone lines to taking calls from the most famous athlete in the world. “All this is beyond my imagination,” he says. “Now the whole world knows about us.”