Thomas R. Jackson
Jackson got into golf course design after earning an architecture degree in 1965, mostly because "my father was a wholesale florist and I didn't want to spend my life inside a hot greenhouse." Building golf courses "seemed like a perfect way to get outdoors."
He sent out 35 resumes and got one answer - but it was from iconic Robert Trent Jones, who hired him to work building courses in Puerto Rico. Later, he worked for George W. Cobb before striking out on his own in 1971.
The majority of his golf projects are located in the Southeast. These projects include private and semi-private courses, resort courses and public courses, of which seven have been done for various government agencies.
Jackson started scaling back on work at the same time the entire US Golf Industry scaled back, a result of the housing and financial meltdown of 2008.
Tom Jackson is an arguably underrated designer. Mr Jackson is known for producing functional layouts that have held up well against time.
