A golfer was enjoying a round in St Louis Missouri on March 8, 2013 when the ground suddenly swallowed him. Mark Mihal actually noticed the smaller hole in the ground while on the 14th fairway and walked over to take a better look. Suddenly Mark found himself at the bottom of an 18 foot hole and in pain. His friends had to hoist him out with a rope which took nearly 20 minutes. Of course this comes on the heels of the tragic events in Seffner Florida which resulted in a man losing his life when a sinkhole opened underneath his bedroom. Mihal noticed the bathtub sized indenture in the ground but not think it looked unstable. He stated that if felt like he was falling forever. He was in darkness and stuck clinging to the mud around him not knowing whether the hole would eventually cave in on top of him. At first a ladder was not long enough for him to climb out so a friend actually climbed in to assist and helped tie a rope around his injured friend. Experts say that there are over 15,000 confirmed sinkholes in the region but that they do not anticipate any further risks to golfers once this hole is repaired. My partner Ted Corless was on Fox News nationally this morning providing commentary on the issue. Of course Ted had to slide a joke in that this hole signaled the new pope has been elected but the guys on Fox News need some humor once in a while. Sinkholes have received more attention than usual after the recent death in Seffner and now this near-death experience in Missouri. It also reiterates how sinkholes span the entire country and not just Florida. Just imagine that other than Tennessee and Florida, not other states even offer insurance for these types of problems.