Jim has 23 years of experience in the golf course design profession. Jim chose to start his own firm in 1991 to provide efficiency, professionalism and creativity to his clients. Jim’s dedication and ability to deliver precise design documentation has proved a very successful combination. As projects in Asia and the U.S. were completed, recognition of Jim’s work resulted in many award-winning golf courses highlighted in 2003 with his unprecedented third straight win in Golf Digest’s annual survey of “America’s Best New Courses. Jim has also been named Golf Digest’s Architect of the Year for 2003.
Jim received a Bachelor of Science in Landscape Architecture with a concentration in Turfgrass Science from Colorado State University . Additionally, he received certification in project management from the University of Wisconsin.
Having been involved in the golf course design and construction industry since 1981, Jim has gained a tremendous amount of experience and knowledge. Upon graduation from CSU, Jim spent several years learning the trade from established golf course architects such as Dick Nugent, Ken Dye and Joe Finger. Additionally, Jim worked for two prominent golf course construction companies (Landscapes Unlimited & McCumber Golf Construction), where he developed an understanding of how golf courses can be most efficiently and economically constructed to maximize and monitor the clients overall budget. Construction of projects worked on includes courses by such designers as Rees Jones, Arthur Hills , Benz and Poellot, Jeff Brauer, Dick Nugent and Richard Phelps.
In 1987, Jim accepted an offer to join the legendary British golf course design organization Cotton Pennick as its Director of Golf Course Design and Construction. Cotton Pennick has been involved in over 300 golf course projects in more than 30 countries worldwide and has also been consultant to the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews for modifications to the courses used for British Open championships. During his tenure with Cotton Pennick the firm was acquired by Mark McCormacks’ International Management Group at which time Jim became the Director of Golf Course Design for IMG Developments at its European headquarters in London , England . In his position with IMG Developments, Jim was responsible for overseeing a world-class design service for the impressive list of IMG clients as well as IMG Developments. Under Jim’s direction, IMG Developments has worked with such legends as Bernhard Langer and Isao Aoki on a variety of projects in over a dozen countries worldwide.
