The Patriot’s Ali Sezgin honored for excellence in club management
Ali Sezgin, general manager of The Patriot Golf Club in Owasso, was named this week as one of six recipients of the 2026 Excellence in Club Management Award by the National Club Association. He will be honored April 19 at the 2026 Excellence in Club Management® Awards Gala on April 19 at Ocean Reef in Key Lago, Fla., during the 2026 National Club Conference. There will be a separate ceremony at The Patriot later at a date to be determined.
Sezgin, the general manager at The Patriot since 2019, has overseen remarkable growth at the club, which is also next to the home office of The Folds of Honor in tied in closely with the patriotic themes of that organization. The Patriot is up to over 650 members including over 150 national members. On Oct. 1-4 it will host the Compliance Solutions Championship for the second time, a playoff event on the Korn Ferry Tour.
“Being recognized by your peers is very humbling,” Sezgin said. “Coming from nothing to this place in my career is gratifying. Golf really taught me a lot. It teaches you integrity, patience and humility. Integrity because you hold yourself accountable. Patience because it takes time and you keep taking lessons. Humility because it will humble you no matter how good you are. I try to live up to those principles.”
Sezgin was 22 when he arrived in the United States in 1994 as an exchange student from Turkey with no previous exposure to golf. His internship was with Marriott and he was sent to the Chapel Hill (N.C.) Country Club.
“I saw this guy carrying a bag by himself and looking around, then trying to hit a little white ball,” Sezgin said. “I asked the gentleman who was showing us around what was happening over there. He said don’t worry, that’s just a guy playing golf. In my head, I said that’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever seen.”
Trust to say Sezgin knows a lot more about golf now and is as addicted to it as the rest of us. The general manager at Chapel Hill in 1994 was Nick Sidorakis, who started Sezgin out as a cook and he had worked his way up to dining room manager by the time Sidorakis left for a storied career at Southern Hills Country Club in March of 1995.
By May, Sezgin had called looking for work at Southern Hills. He came to Tulsa, slept on Sidorakis’ couch for a time and began work in food and beverage operations there, which he did in a variety of successful roles until leaving to run food and beverage and room service at The Renaissance Hotel in Tulsa from 2003-05 and then general manager at The Melting Pot restaurants in Tulsa and Oklahoma City from 2005-07. He went back to Southern Hills for 12 years until being named general manager and chief operating officer at The Patriot in 2019. He also worked his way through and graduated from Oklahoma State University in his spare time.
“Ali has done a great job,” Sidorakis said. “When he first came to us at Chapel Hill he didn’t speak much English but he was fluent in about four other languages. He has always been a very hard worker and very conscientious.”
“Faith, family, friends and freedom is what we’re about here,” Sezgin said. “This club is a refuge for members to come here and reflect on what’s most important and to honor the sacrifices made on our behalf. Those are our core values.”
Also being recognized are Matthew Linderman of Boca West Country Club, Ian Munroe of Winter Park Racquet Club, Toni-Marie Ion-Brown of Calgary Petroleum Club, Mike Ridout of Toronto Cricket Skating and Curling Club and Joseph Callison of Belle Meade Country Club.
– Ken MacLeod
