The Story Behind Central Links
Central Links is located in the Caribou highlands of southeastern Idaho. Seven miles NW of Grace, 15 miles east of Lava Hot Springs and 13 miles west of Soda Springs makes it "central" to the area. Central is also the name of the original pioneer settlement of the area. In a secluded area, away from the busy highways, Central Links gives golfers a sense of privacy. The fairways are surrounded by a variety of farmland and formations of nature’s lava rock. The view of the surrounding mountains is beautiful.
Bart and Cherie Christensen, along with their family of five children, have been developing Central Links since 1992. They never really planned on building a whole course. The course began as a family project with the idea of having a couple of holes for the kids to play on. They got the idea from a friend of Cherie’s father, Glenn Bullock. Bart, fourth generation farmer, saw a need to diversify their farming operation that includes wheat, barley, and seed potatoes. The decision was made to complete the nine holes and they’ve been building ever since. The children spent all of their spare time removing rocks, raking dirt, and helping with the construction of the club house. Farming and golf are both summer occupations and it’s been interesting trying to keep up with both of them at the same time.
"We wanted to have a golf course that was friendly and family oriented. Junior Golf has been a successful part of every summer’s program. We wanted to put the country back into country club and we’ve met some great people in the process. We’ve had people from all over the U.S. as well as Sweden, Scotland, and England," says Bart.
The course opened in 1996, but was pretty rough. Over the next few years, they have made many improvements, removing lava rock, laying sod, and transforming it into a challenging, but playable course. A driving range was added in 1997, and a RV Park the summer of 2001. The desire for nine more holes is still a future dream.