Business veterans form golf consulting firm

HOUSTON - Golf, real estate and hospitality industry veteran Elmer E. Stephens and financial consultant Glenn Fold have formed ES Partners Inc., a firm that will specialize in golf course and real estate project management and advisory services for developers and owners of golf courses and residential communities.

ES Partners is a preferred golf management provider for Jack Nicklaus Design, as well as a strategic partner of C.H. Johnson Consulting, a convention, sports and real estate consulting firm.

According to Stephens, the company's expertise and experience will be beneficial to developers, owners and managers.

"The golf industry has undergone a transition in the past two years from a period of dramatic growth in the 1990s to a period of slow growth or contraction," Stephens said.

Stephens and Ford have consulting experience in feasibility of projects, enhancement of current operations, assessment of properties for disposition and turnaround of under-performing assets. The companywill also leverage its industry relationships to provide quality resources to meet clients' needs and solve their problems.

The company signed two management deals within days of its formation, Wildcat Golf Club in and The Golf Club at Westwood, both in Houston.