Cabell attended Princeton University and received a Bachelor of Arts in History in 1963. He then spent the 1963 academic year at Harvard University's Graduate School of Design before completing his Bachelor's of Landscape Architecture at the University of California-Berkeley in 1967. Cabell met Rees Jones while at Harvard and the two formed a close friendship. It was this friendship that led Cabell to full-time employment with Robert Trent Jones in 1967. He would spend the next 20 years with Robert Trent Jones and from 1971-1987 served as head of the European office. He was intimately involved with the design and construction of every Trent Jones course in Europe during those 17 years. In 1987, Cabell began his own company called Cabell B. Robinson Limited. He has designs all over Europe and North Africa including in France, Spain, Portugal, Morocco, Switzerland, Cyprus, and Italy. Having lived in Spain for over three decades, combined with his experience with other European cultures, allows him to have a unique understanding of the local culture. Cabell is firmly committed to environmental protection and believes that golf course architecture is more of an art form than a science.