Growing Up Gearhart A Story About Golf
This oral-history interview features Mike Herron interviewing his father about growing up at Gearhart Golf Links in Gearhart, Oregon, after his parents, Roy Madan and his wife June (“Nana”), purchased the course in 1955 from Roy Mather. The family moved from a cattle ranch in Blodgett, Oregon, near Corvallis, to the North Oregon Coast, where they lived in the caddy house above the pro shop.
Mike Herron is a resident of Salem, Oregon with family roots in the Willamette Valley and the north coast of the state. He creates golf content for his Youtube channel Mike Golfs Oregon, to share his love of Oregon’s golf scene, the game itself, and the people and personalities who share his passion for it.
The interview recounts life on the course during the 1950s and 1960s, including caddying, mowing greens, planting trees, and helping operate the coffee shop, Bamboo Room, and Sand Trap bar. It highlights Roy’s business discipline and Nana’s hospitality, which transformed the struggling seasonal course into a thriving year-round community hub through summer memberships, youth access, tournaments like the Sit-n-Sea Gulls Invitational, and strong partnerships with the Gearhart Hotel and the Osborne family.The narrative includes colorful memories of local golfers, celebrity visitors (including Ronald Reagan, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Adam West, and Don Drysdale), and notable players such as John Schlee. It also reflects on later renovations under Tim Boyle, praising restoration efforts that honored the course’s historic links character. A lasting symbol of the family’s spirit remains in the daffodils Nana planted across the course during a difficult first winter — flowers that still bloom today.
Great News for CCHS Scanning Center 2026
There is Another Matching Challenge
Dollar for Dollar up to $21,000
