23 May 2015

Giant sinkhole opens up in Missouri golf course

A huge sinkhole opens up in a Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course in Missouri. The giant cavity, stretching 80 ft wide, is thought to have formed when two separate sinkholes developed together.

A huge sinkhole has opened up on the Top of the Rock golf course in Missouri.

The sinkhole was discovered on Friday morning, according to local reports. No one is thought to have been injured when it formed.

The cavity is about 80ft wide and 35ft deep in some places. It formed when two separate sinkholes developed near the entrance to the golf course, local media said.

Experts from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources are evaluating the sinkhole, which formed near a man-made lake.

The Jack-Nicklaus-designed three-hole course comprises professional golfing shops and hosted a Champions Tour event last month, although the sinkhole is not expected to affect play on the main course.

Such naturally-forming cavities are fairly common in the region because of the nature of its rock formations, in which water is constantly moving through bedrock under the surface.

Missouri is not exactly a stranger to the sink hole either – at last count there were 15,981 in the state.