Lorrie Viola

From arranging Jack Nicklaus' home gardens to designing golf courses in the exotic West Indies, Lorrie Viola made the quantum leap into golf course architecture that many young landscape architects merely dream about. After working with the likes of Gary Player, George and Jim Fazio, and Karl Litten, Viola's background sets her apart.

She earned a landscape architecture degree from Michigan State University in 1983 and then in 1992, she earned a master's degree in business administration from Florida Atlantic. In between, she worked for golf course architect Bill Newcomb before moving to South Florida to work for two years with Jack Nicklaus including in his beloved gardens on his estate. Lorrie worked another two years with George and Jim Fazio and then joined Player-Litten in 1987, before venturing out on her own in 1991.

Viola has no "fingerprint" trait in her designs. Her strong suit as a designer is her land-planning skills, "...something a lot of other designers don't have. And that is something I understand well. I always look at that availability in case a project calls for it. Basically, you have to consider how the developer is going to make his money back... whether it's residential, a family recreation area, or something else."