Nick Sidorakis leaves a major legacy

A major legacy in Tulsa

by ken macleod

The 2022 PGA Championship is likely the last major golf championship for 64-year-old Nick Sidorakis, as general manager at Southern Hills Country Club, a job he's held for 27 years.

He hasn’t officially announced his retirement, and members and club officials would surely love him to stay through the 2024 U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship. As far as majors go, however, Sidorakis has no plans to be around if and when either the PGA Championship or U.S. Open returns.

The next unassigned U.S. Open date is 2029 and Southern Hills officials have been wooing the USGA for a fourth Open to go with those in 1958, 1977 and 2001. The next PGA Championship open date is 2030, the date Southern Hills was slotted for before PGA officials moved it from former President Donald Trump’s Bedminster course following the riot at the U.S. Capitol followed by his second impeachment.

So this will likely conclude a run that has seen Sidorakis oversee the 1995 and 1996 Tour Championships, the 2001 U.S. Open, the 2007 PGA Championship, the 2009 U.S. Amateur and the 2022 PGA Championship, the fifth PGA Championship in the club’s illustrious history, two more than any other club has held.

The run of championships is just the beginning of his impact. With a full and thriving membership enjoying the fruits of a massive 2018 course restoration by Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner along with tremendous improvements to the practice facilities, clubhouse and other infrastructure, combined with personnel he considers “absolute superstars” led by Director of Golf Cary Cozby and superintendent Russ Myers, he will leave the club perfectly positioned to continue its role as one of the nation’s leaders when he does decide to step down.

Yet all of that doesn’t begin to capture the impact Sidorakis has had on the game and the community.

Sidorakis is one of the prime movers and past chairman of the Oklahoma Golf Hall of Fame board. He is a leader on a citizen’s advisory committee dedicated to helping restore the rundown city of Tulsa-owned municipal courses at Page Belcher and Mohawk Park. And above all, he is the cofounder, leader and ongoing chairman of the First Tee of Tulsa, having helped raise over $10 million since the program’s inception in 2002 to provide free golf lessons and life skills to more than 120,000 children in the Tulsa area, all free of charge. (Full disclosure, this writer is on the city golf advisory committee, is executive director of the Oklahoma Golf Hall of Fame and is on the First Tee Board.)

Nothing is nearer to his heart in his pro-

fessional life than the First Tee program, recognized as the only First Tee chapter to provide all of its services at no cost.

“To go back to the first days when John Johnson and I thought of developing the program back in 1999 to see what it’s become and the impact that it has made on all of these children that would not have had the opportunity to be involved in golf, it’s beyond any expectation we could have had,” Sidorakis said. “When you see some of the outstanding young men and women that have come back to work at the First Tee, or gone on to be successful in business and life, it’s truly rewarding. Janice (Gibson, the executive director since the outset) has been truly amazing with the time and effort she has put into this program.”

Gibson says the same about Sidorakis, marveling at how someone with his busy day job has managed to pour so much time and effort into building the First Tee.

“Nick finds time to not only spearhead fundraising efforts, but to provide leadership, direction and guidance on a regular basis,” Gibson said. “Nick and John’s hard work and dedication built the First Tee of Tulsa from the ground up.”

Though he may turn the reins at Southern Hills over in time, Sidorakis has no intention of relinquishing his role with the First Tee and intends for the program to continue to evolve and grow.

“We’re getting into now where Janice and her managers are helping coach high schools in Tulsa Public Schools and we want that role to grow,” Sidorakis said. “We would like to eventually have a satellite program at Page Belcher which would open the doors and touch other parts of Tulsa. That’s just one of my visions for it.

“We want to continue to expand the educational aspect. We’re helping second graders improve their reading and writing skills. We’re helping older kids prepare for their ACT tests and doing STEM work. There’s just so much good the program does and can do.”

A native of Westfield, N.J., Sidorakis was an accomplished golfer, twice winning the club championship at Shackamaxon G&CC. He came to Southern Hills with a deep background in food service and hospitality, owning and running his own restaurant, the Sleepy Hollow Inn in Scotch Plains, N.J., but his most recent stint was seven years of corporate hospitality work for Marriott in Phoenix. He was hired at Southern Hills to replace previous GM Bill Dorman on April 1, 1995, with the first of back-to-back Tour Championships looming just eight months away in October.

He plunged right in and money the club made from the Tour Championships eventually became the seed money that former club president Johnson persuaded the Southern Hills board to use to start the First Tee program. The club has supported the endeavor ever since, holding an annual fundraising tournament on site each fall and supporting it in myriad other ways.

For now, Sidorakis is locked in on the PGA Championship. Hundreds of planning and operations meetings go into hosting, and his staff in the clubhouse and club hospitality tent will swell to more than 450 for tournament week. His days will begin by rising at 3 a.m. and he loves the 4:30 a.m. meetings with Myers and PGA of America Championships Director Kerry Haigh to outline the day’s setup and strategy.

Will he get to watch any golf live in his final go-round?

“I tape it,” Sidorakis said. “There’s just

Southern Hills GM Nick Sidorakis

so much going on. Just providing food and beverage in the clubhouse, we’ve got our hands full, up to 5,000 meals a day. We’ve got to be extremely well prepared and think of everything that could possibly happen and have contingency plans for those things. If not, you could fall flat on your face and I won’t accept that. You’re working 18-hour days for the 10 days including the event and running on adrenaline. By Wednesday, you’ve got your game face on and really refining the operations, and then by Thursday you’re in full bore and getting after it.”

Longtime member and volunteer Cathey Barkley said, “Nick has been such a solid leader and our goto guy when it comes to anything regarding major championships. He works so well with others, doesn’t put himself above anyone and will take on anything, anywhere. I remember in the 2007 PGA Championship we were out there picking up trash. He has the respect of all the membership, the executive committees, and the PGA staff. He’s just got the whole package.”

The 2001 U.S. Open was the result of a member-led effort by Larry Houchin, Randy Olmsted, Bill Warren and others, but Sidorakis was the key figure in landing the 2007 PGA Championship. He worked hard on landing another U.S. Open to follow, but when it was not forthcoming after the 2009 U.S. Amateur, reopened a dialogue with the PGA of America, leading to the 2021 Senior PGA Championship and now the fifth PGA Championship.

Sidorakis takes pride in Southern Hills

being the site of more PGA Championships than any other course, and expects the 2022 version to be a huge success. “The golf course is prepared,” he said. “Gil did an amazing job and Russ and his crew will have it in tremendous condition. We just want to present the best golf course and facility we can and what happens from there will happen. But I think the winner will be in single digits under par. “I’m proud and honored that we’re about to host our fifth PGA Championship. It makes you stick your Nick Sidorakis with students at the First Tee of Tulsa chest out a bit. I didn’t think we’d ever be in this position again and we’re honored and blessed. Tulsa and the state of Oklahoma should be proud as well.” Proud of being a city of major championships and proud of the man who helped make them happen. And thankful that he will continue to bring golf and life lessons to the lives of thousands of Oklahoma children each year.