GEARHART Columbia Sportswear CEO Tim Boyle has bought his partners shares of Gearhart Golf Links and is now the golf courses owner, along with his children, Joseph and Molly Boyle.

An investor in the course for 10 years, Boyle said he enjoys playing there and is excited about buying it.

 I have always wanted to own my own golf course, he said.

The 100-acre, 18-hole course will remain a public course, he said, but improvements will be made to it, he said.

Its really a gem, Boyle added. Our goal is to keep it as is, to improve it with some additions, to make the whole experience of playing there a little bit better.

A golfer and Gearhart homeowner, Boyle joined 11 other partners in 2001 to buy the course for $3.65 million, according to Clatsop County tax records.

 Boyle declined to say how much he paid for the course, but he said it was acquired over time.

Originally laid out in 1891 as a four-hole course by Scottish financier Robert Livingston, the course is considered to be the oldest golf course in Oregon and, possibly, the oldest public golf course in the Pacific Northwest.

There are claims that people were playing golf in Gearhart before any other place west of the Mississippi, Boyle said. Some may split hairs and say it wasnt a real golf course.

It was redesigned in the early 1930s and then modified a third time. Before the purchase by Gearhart Partners LLC, the course had fallen into disrepair. Ownership had changed several times.

The Gearhart Hotel near the course burned down in the 1970s, and the original Sand Trap clubhouse fell to fire in 1998. It was rebuilt soon afterward.

After Gearhart Partners bought the course and the Sand Trap restaurant, the property was restored. In 2008, Brian and Mike McMenamin leased the Sand Trap and renovated it; Boyle retained ownership of the building.

He is an enthusiastic golfer.

Im not very good, but I am avid, Boyle said.