Andy,
You are not far off. Ken is an attorney (I believe) from Columbia, SC with no prior design experience who was part of a group of guys that wanted to build a Pine Valley concept in this part of the country. They wanted a golf only club, understated on the ammenities, emphasis on good HARD golf. Somehow (I cannot do the story justice) they got Palmers group to do the routing, but then Ken took over the project on behalf of the founders group. He changed the routing slightly (moving greensites etc in several places). However through some arrangement they got Palmers firm to allow them to retain the Palmer name thinking at that time that it would help them in marketing this remote site to potential members. After all not to many people at that time had ever heard of a Ken Tomlinson design.
Ken was just a guy (probably not unlike many here) that had been to many of the greatest clubs, and had an idea about what made them great. Because he wasnt an architect that just came in for a few site visits he apparently basicly lived on site for most of the construction and poured his heart and soul into it.
Obviously we are quite happy with how the finished product worked out, and so are the national panels, and anyone who has ever played it. It has quite a reputation in this part of the country although is not that well known elsewhere as it just is kind of low profile. But the courses reputation around these parts got Ken the opportunity to also do his thing at Tidewater. I do not know the exact relationship he had with Tidewaters owners/developers and if he is actually an owner himself. But he definitely was close to them.
But those are the only two courses he has ever done. I asked him about why he never did more, and basically he said it wore him out, and he poured so much of himself into the projects. They were a labor of love. I belive he is a fairly successful attorney and he knows that that is what he does for a living.