Bryan lands back at The Patriot; Novozinsky takes reins at Cedar Ridge
By Ken MacLeod
A shakeup in the ranks of PGA professionals has resulted in two of the most prominent clubs in the Tulsa area under new leadership.
Dave Bryan Jr. is now the Director of Golf at The Patriot in Owasso, where he was the first director when the club opened in 2010 until taking that position at Cedar Ridge Country Club in Broken Arrow in 2012.
Matt Novozinsky, 36 and the former top assistant at Cedar Ridge, has been promoted at Cedar Ridge to head golf professional.
Meanwhile, former Cedar Ridge general manager Brian Severn is no longer employed at Cedar Ridge as well. He had replaced Cleve Stubblefield in 2024. Bob Laird is serving as interim general manager at Cedar Ridge while the club contemplates a replacement.
Ali Sezgin, the general manager at The Patriot, had worked with Bryan at Southern Hills Country Club when he worked there in the food and beverage operations and Dave Jr. was an assistant to his father Dave Bryan Sr. The senior Bryan was a professional emeritus at The Patriot after leaving Southern Hills in 2014.
“We’re excited for David to be back home and take the club to the next level,” Sezgin said. “It’s great to have him back.”
It’s a much different club than Bryan left when he replaced legendary pro Buddy Phillips at Cedar Ridge. The Patriot had about 150 members when he left compared to 650 today. It has built a huge new clubhouse, has expanded the pro shop and lockerrooms, and added facilities including cabins. A new headquarters for The Folds of Honor has been built and the club is the host of the Compliance Solutions Championship on the Korn Ferry Tour.
Novozinsky had been planning to look elsewhere for his first job as a head professional figuring Bryan was at Cedar Ridge for many years to come. But now he hopes to take advantage of the surprising turn of events that has him in charge of golf operations at one of the area’s most prestigious clubs.
“This place took me in when I was a kid of 20-something and it feels like I’ve grown up here,” Novozinsky said. “For them to take a risk on me I’ll be forever grateful. And I’m so thankful for having worked with David and everything that he taught me.”
Novozinsky and his wife Carly have a two-month old daughter Vivian, their first child, to add to the excitement of 2026.
Novozinsky grew up in Princeton, N.J., and went through the Professional Golf Management program at Methodist College in Fayetteville, N..C., graduating in 2013. After a series of internships, he applied for a position at South Lakes Golf Course in Jenks and worked there 2014 to 2015. He was hired as an assistant by Bryan at Cedar Ridge in July of 2015 and has been there since.
