Off the beaten course
The Lava Links Golf Course is located just off of Second Avenue Southeast, across from the Soap Lake Police Department.
Rebecca Pettingill
Former Soap Lake Mayor DeVaun Black said the area was so overgrown that the sagebrush was over people’s heads before it was mowed down to create the course.
The rustic Lava Links Golf Course sits among the sagebrush, rocks and desert vegetation, where the “greens” are not green but rather sand.
The course sign gives a map of the course and guidelines for its use. The web address referenced for more information is currently defunct.
SOAP LAKE/EPHRATA — Do you ever get bogged down by how busy some golf courses can be? Are you tired of the same type of courses over and over? Well, Grant County has got your back with a couple of hole-in-the-wall courses sure to shake things up.
The Lava Links Golf Course in Soap Lake is a par-3, nine-hole executive course that only allows 9-irons, pitching wedges and putters. The course features holes that range from 40 to 100 yards.
The course sits in the middle of the city of Soap Lake, whose motto is “your cure for the ordinary.”
“Well, we needed something to do,” said former Mayor DeVaun Black. “It was a vacant area in the middle of the city that they were using for trash and dumping stuff, kind of a remote area and we thought maybe we could do that, we could clean it up, which we did.”
The rustic course sits among the sagebrush, rocks and desert vegetation, where the “greens” are not green but rather sand.
“There are courses like that around. There's several of them in Idaho and in Oregon that are basically dirt courses, no grass,” said Black. “And so it's not anything unique, it's just something that we felt that little area could prosper by.”
It is a course where a golfer is completely on his or her own. There is no staff, no lines, no fees – although a $2 donation is suggested – and no provided materials. Just a golfer and the course.
Black said he wasn’t sure when the course was created but that it was during the time that Wayne Hovde was mayor. The City of Soap Lake website states Hovde was mayor from 2004-2011.
Black also said the area was so overgrown that the sagebrush was over the heads of the people mowing it down.
“The brush was 10, 12 feet high,” said Black.
The course is located just off of Second Avenue Southeast, across from the Soap Lake Police Department. It is important to note that the course sign states that more information could be found at soaplake.wa.gov/lavalinks, but the link no longer works.
When asked what advice he would give to people wanting to take on Lava Links, Black said, “Well, just have fun.”
The second course is the Oasis RV Park and Golf Course in Ephrata. It is not quite as primitive as the Soap Lake course but offers more options for golfers looking for a challenge. It is an executive nine-hole, par-27, 930-yard course. The holes range from 65 yards up to 140 yards.
The Oasis Municipal Golf Course was opened in 1975 and features bent grass greens, winter rye fairways and water hazards, according to its website.
There is also a mini golf course on site as well featuring 18 obstacle filled holes.
Rates for the course are as follows:
One play of the nine holes are $12, $10 for children under age 14 and seniors.
All day play is $18, $15 for children under 14 seniors.
Mini Golf Course is $5 per person per game.
The Oasis RV Park and Golf Course is located at 2541 Basin St. SW.
There are over a dozen different golf courses in Grant County to choose from, so take some time this summer to check out as many as you can and enjoy the diverse scenery the area has to offer.
