Revenue Authority Awards No-Bid Contract to Golf Instructor

A recently approved no-bid contract to operate a training academy at a Baltimore County public golf course was awarded to an acquaintance of the chief executive of the quasi-public agency that oversees the county’s golfing facilities.

Earlier this month the Baltimore County Revenue Authority signed a contract with Orlando-based golf pro Bill Madonna to operate an academy at the newly renovated Fox Hollow public golf course in Timonium.

William "Lynnie” Cook, the authority’s chief executive, encouraged the quasi-public agency’s five-member board to agree to the business deal last month even though at least one member protested that a final, detailed contract was not available for review and that no other bids had been sought.

Cook told the board on April 28 that he knew Madonna "dating back to the 1990s." He said he met with Madonna as many as four times over the last 18 years and reconnected with him at a recent golf trade show.

This isn’t the first time Cook has tried to hire Madonna, a nationally recognized golf instructor.

"Lynnie's had a relationship with Bill for years," said Jon Ladd, executive director of the Baltimore Municipal Golf Corporation, which oversees Baltimore City’s public golf courses, including Pine Ridge. Ladd got his job after Cook left it to join the county revenue authority in 2006.

"(Madonna) was an instructor at the (Baltimore Country Club) and Lynnie wanted him to work at Pine Ridge,” Ladd said. “It didn't work out."

This time, it did.

The revenue authority’s contract with Madonna is a four-year deal that entitles the authority to collect between 15 to 18 percent of the revenues his academy generates at Fox Hollow. The deal empowers Madonna to extend the contract four times, allows him to sell his own golf equipment in competition with the pro shop and gives him authority over all instruction at the course.

Cook was not available for comment, an aide said Thursday. Attempts to reach Madonna though his agent at Orlando-based Fidelity Sports Group were also not immediately successful.

Don Hutchinson, chairman of the authority's five-member board, is unavailable until May 31.

The Maryland General Assembly created the Revenue Authority in the mid-1950s to manage the county’s five public golf courses and parking garages. It generates revenue through the golf operations and through fees charged to the public at parking garages throughout the county. Its original charter and bylaws do not require the authority or its board—which is appointed by the county executive—to obtain bids for contracts in the same way that government agencies must.

But awarding no-bid contracts like the Madonna deal has led to criticism of the authority in the past, forcing it to sometimes solicit competitive bids.

Lopsided deal?

For authority board member Leslie Pittler the acquaintance between Cook and Madonna raises questions because the contract appears more favorable to Madonna and his company than to the authority.

"This was a sole source contract," said Pittler, a attorney and board member. "There was no invitation for bids and no due diligence on our part. How can we enter into what is potentially an eight year agreement without putting it to bid and without the board even seeing the contract?"

The board was briefed on a memo outlining the deal at its April 28 board meeting. Pittler called that memo "a framework."

"The contract is the details," Pittler said.

Pittler, during the board meeting last month, urged the authority to seek bids—something his colleagues on the board and Cook were unwilling to do.

"All that due diligence would be worthwhile but if we did that in every aspect of our business we'd have to triple our staff," said Joseph Blair, a board member.

Blair then asked Pittler to stop asking questions about the golf academy contract because the meeting was well into its third hour.

Pittler persisted and questioned Cook as to why references supplied by Madonna had not been contacted. Cook said there was no need.

"I can safely say that I am confident in the references that (Madonna) gave us that I don't have to call," Cook said.

Pittler said the contract essentially gives Madonna autonomy over Fox Hollow.

In return for sharing 15 to 18 percent of the academy’s revenues with the authority, Madonna gets exclusive rights to teach at Fox Hollow, according to the contract obtained at the request of Patch.

Golf instructors who already teach at Fox Hollow will not be able to continue providing lessons unless they obtain certification through Madonna's academy. Even then, Madonna would receive up to 80 percent of the fees those accredited instructors charge their clients, according to the contract.

However, the authority says golf instructors employed at Fox Hollow will end up making more money.

The authority also agreed to staff the facility at a level acceptable to Madonna. Those staff members, paid for by the revenue authority, would be responsible in part for keeping the financial records, accepting payments and scheduling appointments for the academy. The authority is also responsible for insuring the academy.

The authority is required under the contract to provide nearly $23,000 to Madonna’s operations in the first 19 months of the deal. This includes a one-time $5,000 travel stipend as well as an agreement to spend a minimum of $5,000 annually on marketing and about $8,500 in equipment purchases.

Madonna would also be allowed to compete with the existing pro shop. The contract gives him the right to sell a brand of golf equipment directly to academy students and split the proceeds 50-50 with the authority, after Madonna's expenses.

The authority also has to establish special plans to provide free and discounted golf rounds and discounts on food and beverages to academy students, according to the contract.

The contract lasts for four years and has four additional renewal years that Madonna alone can trigger.

The authority can cancel the deal at the end of 2012 if the academy fails to generate $75,000 in the first 19 months. The authority would receive about $11,250 of that amount, according to the contract.

No Stranger to No Bids

The recent contract with the golf academy isn’t the first time the authority has faced questions about no-bid or no-contract deals.

In 2007, the authority entered into a no-bid, no-contract arrangement with two former board members who were hired to perform public relations and legal services. Those services were later discontinued and two other firms were hired after the authority solicited bids.

Nevins and Associates—one of the companies that had been performing the no-bid work—did not win the bidding but was awarded a $5,500 bonus at the end of its work during a closed meeting of the authority board. Officials said at the time that the payment was made because the company had done a good job.

Last year, the authority backed out of an agreement to make a donation to the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore after a conflict of interest was revealed and because the board had not approved the arrangement. Hutchinson, the board's chairman, is the paid president of the nonprofit zoo.

A First Class Facility

Golf academies are not a new concept. There are at least 100 across the country, according to Pittler.

Locally, the Baltimore Municipal Golf Corporation, which manages five golf courses including Pine Ridge outside Towson, operates its own academy. The instruction program is in its second year.

"We've been successful at it," said Ladd, the executive director of the city's public golf courses.

Ladd said his agency decided to operate their own academy using their own instructors.

"We're a nuts and bolts program here," Ladd said. "We try to take care of the people who play public courses. Bill won't be inexpensive, I don't think."

Ladd said he wasn't surprised that the revenue authority wanted to add a similar program at one of its facilities.

"I guess they wanted a big name," Ladd said.

Madonna, who operates a golf academy at the Orlando World Center Marriott Resort, is designated as a Master Teaching Professional within the PGA, according to his website.

Fox Hollow, adjacent to Dulaney High School, was reopened last summer after the authority spent $3 million on extensive renovations of the golf course and driving range.

Cook told the board in April that he wanted to also upgrade training opportunities at the public course.

"It's our commitment to have the premier training program in the region," Cook said. "(Madonna) wants to be associated with just those kinds of facilities."

Joseph Rahness, head of golf for the authority, said the academy will fill a need.

"We're not accommodating someone who wakes up and says, 'I want to get a golf lesson,'" Rahness said. "It just seemed like that was an area where we were really weak."

The academy could also increase use of the course, Rahness said.

"It's just generating foot traffic and that was the whole goal of pushing an academy at Fox Hollow," Rahness said.

Rahness assured the board that losing money was unlikely.

"If Bill Madonna does no lessons, that's the most we can lose is $13,000," Rahness said.

Based on the contract, the authority could lose more than $11,000 in the first 19 months even if the golf academy successfully meets the $75,000 minimum.