Baltimore County Council scrapped $6.6M for a golf course clubhouse. Then the money came back.

The Rocky Point Golf Course’s 50-year-old clubhouse, seen here in 2024, is slated to be renovated with funding from Baltimore County. (Jerry Jackson/The Banner) Rocky Point’s clubhouse was a pet project of former County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr. A year ago, the Baltimore County Council rejected $6.6 million in funding for a planned golf course clubhouse renovation, calling the expenditure inappropriate. But the money for the Rocky Point Golf Course’s clubhouse in Essex never actually left the budget, even though the seven-member body had unanimously agreed it should. Instead, the council cut $6.6 million in other funds. The golf course clubhouse project raised eyebrows two years ago because the county’s golf courses have always been self-funded. They fall under an agency called the Baltimore County Revenue Authority, which has about $18 million in assets and the authority to issue its own bonds. The agency, which owns and manages five golf courses, seven parking garages and a sports complex, is generally self-sustaining and “does not directly receive appropriations from general purpose units of government,” according to its website. Councilman Todd Crandell, a Republican representing the golf course’s district, has been critical of the project since it was proposed, particularly because the
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