The 40-foot-deep, 80-foot-wide sinkhole at Big Cedar Lodge Resort in Ridgedale, Mo., didn’t hamper the golf course’s traffic over the holiday weekend. Experts believe the sinkhole might be connected to other caves, and there might be a cave system underneath the golf course.
Experts think a cave system underneath the Top of the Rock golf course at Big Cedar Lodge Resort in Ridgedale, Mo., may have something to do with the sinkholes that swallowed part of the driving range last week, the Springfield (Mo.)-based KY3 News reported.
The 40-foot-deep, 80-foot-wide sinkhole and is drawing a lot of eyeballs to the Top of the Rock golf course, south of Branson. Owner and Bass Pro Shops founder Johnny Morris is bringing in experts to study the sinkhole and figure out how it formed, KY3 reported.
“They can be caused by a lot of things, usually water is involved somehow so the recent rain probably had something to do with it,” Gary Pendergrass said. Pendergrass is a geologist with GeoEngineers and will be taking a look at the sinkhole.
Experts believe the sinkhole might be connected to other caves, and there might be a cave system underneath the golf course. Within the next week, geologists will use high-tech equipment to map out the sinkhole, and find out if there are more caves under the course, KY3 reported.
“We think we may have found a new cave system, we don’t know for sure but that’s the next step,” Bass Pro spokesman Martin MacDonald said.
“We’ll be able to put together a model of the sinkhole and the underlying cavities and determine what their relationship is with the other caves and springs here we have on site,” Pendergrass said.
In the future, the sinkhole could actually open up new opportunities for Top of the Rock, like a new cave for visitors to tour, KY3 reported.
“It would be great to unearth another tourist attraction,” MacDonald said.
Despite the hole, business was booming at Top of the Rock over the holiday weekend and no tee times were missed, MacDonald said. Once crews identify exactly how the holes were caused, they will create a plan to repair them, KY3 reported.
C&RB featured Big Cedar Lodge as its October 2014 cover story (Making a Splash at Big Cedar Lodge Resort).
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