Sink holes Cancel The title field is required!

1. Stephen Johnson

   

   0 posts
   
   3/9/2013 8:03 PM

   I have two sink holes in a fwy approx 20x30 and currently only two feet deep, turf is holding together, but is soft like a sponge or trampoline when you walk on it. Odd thing is there is a drain line crossing it that did not sink. Also just discovered a sink hole in my #2 green, within the last hour. It was not there this morning when I changed pins. About 2x2 and I can sink the flag stick about 3 ft. deep into it. Turf is still intact here also. Plan on cutting and peeling the turf back in the morning to see how extensive the void is. These are spec built greens and the cavity were formed out of native material that is very rocky.
   We had a very dry December thru January (finished 2012 15" behind in rain fall) and have since had about 4" of precipitation total, 1"of sleet and slush the rest has been light rain fall. The course is only four years old and I'm worried about more of these type issues.
   Any suggestions on how to repair, especially the green would be helpful. Also I'm hoping that we might be able to file an insurance claim, as I didn't have sink hole repair in the budget this year.
   By the way I'm located in SW Missouri with Zoysia fwys and A1/A4 greens.
   
   Thanks for any advice
   Steve Johnson,CGCS
   Payne Stewart Golf Club

   
   
   
   
2. Rosenthal Gregg

   
   3/10/2013 8:03 AM

   Steve,
   
   Having built several new golf courses and growing them in I have never heard or seen this happen before, but just seen on the news several of these in the central Florida area. It was reported also that areas in the Mid West are apparently often open to this type of issue s during very dry then wet times. As sand will wash away from rocky areas causing the sink hole to occur, they can be small or very large, nothing to take as a simple fill in repair. I saw the one on the news in Florida it swallowed the inside of a home and a man was gone, apparently swallowed also, died and they gave up looking for him as it was to dangerous for them to go down into it. Sad but something to be very concerned about for sure. I saw they utilized a type of special equipment to see how deep and involved the sinkholes were, something you might want to check out before you just fill these in? Just giving you information that may help.
   
   GreggR

   
   
   
   
3. Andy Jorgensen

   

   1 posts
   
   3/10/2013 11:03 AM

   Sinkholes, or "Geological Depressions" as we like to call them, are a frequent occurrence down here. They happen so often that we simply fix them and move on. Some require excavation prior to filling, others you can just fill to the brim. Insurance won't get involved unless there is a structure involved. And then they'll want to survey the ground with ground penetrating radar to see the extent of the void. In 2012 I spent about $16,000 on the repair of over 30 "depressions".
   
   Your biggest concern would be to make sure there is not a split drainage pipe underground that is allowing sediment to wash away. I've seen it happen on new construction just as much as old and even on greens where the smallest hole can allow the finer greens mix washout.
   
   You might also want to make sure the areas in your fairways aren't where they buried debris when they cleared the land for the course, and now it's either settling or rotting and causing a void.

   
   
   
   
4. Steven Huffstutler

   

   11 posts
   
   3/10/2013 1:03 PM

   I have fixed a bunch of them. One big one on a green that a guy fell into. Peel back the sod, cave as much of it in as you can, then fill it back up and lay the sod back down and wait for the next one to appear.
   
   Steve

   
   
   
   
5. Tom Forsythe

   

   0 posts
   
   3/12/2013 6:03 PM

   Here's the latest sinkhole happening on a course. http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/illinois/article_1e0035d1-6ac2-59b4-ad5f-66a28c631e36.html#.UT9bZbipFDI.twitter.