Somewhere in the world, someone wants to build a dream golf course, and that person wants the most famous name in golf to design it. Jack Nicklaus, the Golden Bear, is the famed designer. But who is the person who marries the dream to the dream maker? That would be Tim Kenny, executive vice president in charge of Nicklaus Design.

Whether he’s found in a boardroom or at a baggage carousel in a dizzying number of airports around the world, Kenny is the man who extends the first handshake on a Nicklaus Design deal. A self-described former attorney “gone straight,” he has a hand in why the world’s leading golf course design firm is represented in 36 states, and by year’s end will be in 30 countries.

His journey with the Golden Bear began in 1986—just a few weeks shy of Nicklaus’ historic sixth Masters victory— when Kenny became general counsel for Nicklaus Development. Five years later he decided to try sales and marketing, transferring to the Hong Kong office to develop projects in Asia . After much success, he returned to the main office in Palm Beach in 1994, and for the past decade has overseen all of Nicklaus Design’s operations, from approving sites to negotiating contracts to overseeing the designers who work on the courses, wherever they may be.

“It is a far-reaching enterprise, and it’s my job to catch the opportunities and convert them into design contracts,” Kenny says. “We have over 275 courses worldwide that are open for play, and about 40 more under construction, or roughly 10 percent of all the courses being built in the world. We are working on courses under construction in Spain, Portugal , South Africa, Korea, Thailand, Japan, China, New Zealand, Argentina, Brazil, the Bahamas, the Dominican Republic and Russia, plus 15 more in the United States. We have six courses under development in Mexico alone.”

The Quest for Quality

The vast majority of the work comes from developers seeking out the Nicklaus reputation, and to address these requests Kenny spends roughly half the year on the road—or, more precisely, in the air—racking up more than a quarter of a million miles annually checking out new sites. Despite the strong desire for Nicklaus’ work, and the fact that his Signature Courses, the highest level offered by Nicklaus Design, fetch a multimillion-dollar fee—before construction costs—the designer is very much in demand. So much so that Kenny has to turn down jobs, as he recently did in Spain, when the site or development does not meet the exacting standards the Nicklaus brand has come to represent. In making his decision, he evaluates every aspect of the project, from the land itself and its potential as a golf course to the type of houses planned to surround the golf, including how they will be marketed and the financial status of the developer.

One luxury real estate sales and marketing company Kenny especially enjoys working with is IMI.“Off the top of my head I’d say we have done about 15 projects together, and they have been singularly successful,” Kenny says. “IMI is unique. No one else does what they do. Their experience level, their marketing—in terms of comparable companies, there is no one better. There’s not even a close second. IMI likes to be associated with Nicklaus courses because they understand the value of both brands.”