POWERGRAMS

17 Golfers enjoy the beauty of a Cambrian Ridge fairway. growth. He bought and renovated the former First National Bank, the 1892 Capps Drug Store, the old library, a flower shop and historic houses from one side of town to the other. Probate Judge Norman spends half an hour driving around Greenville giving a window tour of current and former Woodruff projects, including in the Pine Leaf Lane neighborhood where Norman grew up. He points to a house on Fort Dale Road that the 1967 Greenville High School graduate recently bought and sold. "That house was in rough shape when Archie got it," says Norman. "It needed TLC in the worst way. Archie changed it from a neighborhood eyesore to an asset. He's done some remarkable work." Woodruff was named the 2017 Greenville Area Distinguished Citizen of the Year. He is a Vietnam veteran who keeps a loft apartment on Commerce Street, where he named an office building with a balcony apartment the Liz Woodruff Building, after his late mother. Her illness initially brought Archie back to their hometown, where he now spends more time than in Orlando. "I'd done general contracting for so long, building shopping centers, strip malls, custom homes, that I'd gotten burned out on it," he says. "I needed to spend time helping my mother and I absolutely fell in love with Greenville. There's no cookie-cutter houses here. I saw an opportunity to restore some of them when I was first visiting, and it's just kept on going." Woodruff met his wife Christy while they were students at Auburn University. She had grown up in Andalusia and after they married became CIO of Siemens Energy, traveling the world every other week, which allowed Archie an opportunity to frequently visit Greenville. Woodruff has changed many of the buildings and houses into lofts and rental properties. He still owns most of the places he's restored. "I call them all luxury apartments because I spent too much money restoring them," he says laughing. "It's hard to keep up with all of them." Cambrian Ridge It's 35 degrees with a brisk wind as weather forecasts are suggesting possible early February snow, when two young men walk into the Cambrian Ridge pro shop ready to play on the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail. Given the blazing fireplace in the lobby, the golfers' appearance at 9 a.m. is somewhat unexpected, but a 20-man crew has been grooming the grounds since daybreak, just in case anyone shows up. "This time of year, we get a lot of the 'snowbirds' going down to Florida," says Paul Norman, the golf pro and a Greenville native. "You've got to have the course ready regardless of the weather. It's world-class golf and you have got to be prepared for any scenario. We're open every day but Christmas regardless of conditions." Golf Digest calls Cambrian Ridge, located halfway between Birmingham and Mobile, "One of America's 40 Best Value" courses. The magazine called it the third-best public course in America after it opened in 1993. Golf travel writer Eric Hart says Cambrian is "exhaustingly exhilarating," situated at Butler County's highest point on 325 acres that, unlike many courses worldwide, is not encircled by luxury homes. The four nine-hole courses of Cambrian have dramatic elevation changes and lots of surrounding water, with two of the courses split by a rock canyon that the expansive clubhouse and patios overlook. There is a 30-mile unobstructed view. An eagle circles on a draft overhead, while deer and turkey slip in and out of the forested edges of the fairways.

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