One step onto a pocked section of a Southern Illinois golf course and the 43-year-old mortgage broker, Hank Martinez, plunged into a sinkhole. He landed 18 feet down with a painful thud, and his friends managed to hoist him to safety with a rope after about 20 minutes.

In this cell phone image taken March 8, 2013 and provided by golfmanna.com, Hank Martinez, top, Ed Magaletta, right, and Russ Nobbe, look into an 18-foot-deep and 10-foot- wide sinkhole that golfer Mark Minhal fell into while playing golf at the Annbriar Golf Course in Waterloo, Ill. Mihal, 43, a mortgage broker from Creve Coeur, Mo., was hoisted to safety with a rope and suffered a dislocated shoulder. (AP Photo/Courtesy of golfmanna.com, Mike Peters)

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This undated photo provided by Golfmanna shows golfer Mark Mihal who fell into a sinkhole that opened up under him on the 14th hole of a golf course in Waterloo, Ill. Mihal was hoisted out safely with a rope after falling 18 feet into the 10-foot-wide pit and suffered a dislocated shoulder. (AP Photo/Courtesy Golfmanna)