BRANSON, Mo. (AP) - Water seeping through a pond's clay liner likely led to the massive sinkhole that developed in May at a Branson area golf course, according to a state report.
The report by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources said Bass Pro Shops, which owns the Top of the Rock Golf Course, should fill the sinkhole with rocks and install a plastic liner on top of the clay barrier to prevent future sinkholes.
The sinkhole, estimated to be about 60 feet in diameter and 30 to 40 feet deep, formed in the early hours of May 22. The pond was built on the golf course's driving range.
The department also found four smaller "collapse/settlement areas" near the main sinkhole, three of them beneath artificial turf.
Martin MacDonald, Bass Pro's director of conservation, said Bass Pro is "excited about the sinkhole and the geology beneath it."