Hoop Loop: Family creates three-hole golf course to help pass the time

The Hooper family built the Hoop Loop to help pass the time during the coronavirus outbreak.

Country clubs and public golf courses are closing their doors in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.

Augusta National Golf Club reportedly closed on Monday. San Francisco’s TPC Harding Park, host of the 2020 PGA Championship in May, closed on Tuesday, as did the famed Winter Park Golf Course near Orlando.

That said, a new course has opened in Tsawwassen, British Columbia, Canada. The Hooper family has built a three-hole golf course next to their apartment complex in order to pass the time.

With courses closing left and right, the Hoop Loop might soon be the hottest place in town.

The idea sprouted in Jason Hooper’s head years ago while walking his dog in a field adjacent to their property.

“I used to take the dog out there all the time and just walking through that field and open area I used to envision golf holes,” said Hooper, a third-generation golf course superintendent who now works as a sales representative for turf products in the golf industry. “The unfortunate circumstances happening in the world right now has kind of just given us a really good reason to go ahead and do it.”

Jason reached out to a friend and was able to get his hands on a cup changer and some extra cups and flags.

“The kids were out there with me and we collectively decided where we were gonna route the golf course, routing it in a little three-hole triangle so you can just keep looping it over and over,” he explained. “As we played it we came up with some alternate tees and things like that to give it different angles and keep it fun.”

11-year-old Bella Hooper plays the Hoop Loop. (Photo: Hooper Family)

Different names were discussed before settling on the aptly-named Hoop Loop. The family lives in Tsatsu Shores, and Jason loves Bandon Dunes, so naturally Tsatsu Dunes came to mind.

“But Hoop Loop just seems to have a nice ring to it,” he said.

It’s certainly a lot more appealing than Quarantine Country Club.

Jason, along with his wife Lori and two kids, Bella (11) and Lincoln (9), played the Hoop Loop about 30 times on Monday. The kids saw immense improvement from start to finish. At first they could barely hit the ball. By the time they were done, they were making pars with ease.

The shot of the day, though, came from Dad.

“The last thing I wanted to do was steal their thunder because I had videos of them, they both hit amazing shots just before mine,” said Jason. “Lincoln went first and hit a great shot and Bella had to show him up, so she put it inside him. I said ‘here take a video of your old dad and I’ll take a whack at it’ and it went in the hole.”

Playing at 48 yards, Jason aced the par-3 second hole, which features a “Bandon Dunes-esque green” for his first official hole-in-one.

“My buddies were like ‘I don’t know, it didn’t look like it went in the hole, it looks like it was staged.’ And I’m like, ‘Zoom in on the video, my kids will vouch for me, they’re not going to lie!’”

Nine-year-old Lincoln Hooper plays the Hoop Loop. (Photo: Hooper Family)

The Hoop Loop is quickly becoming Twitter famous, but the Hoopers didn’t build the course for the social media praise. They built it to have fun during a time where not much fun is being had.

“We’ve just kind of run with it and we’ve been overwhelmed by the response to it,” said Jason. “If anybody can watch the videos or look at the photos and smile in these tough times right now, I mean that’s all that matters. It’s a nice little break from the unfortunate reality right now.”

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