Is The Long Game based on a true story? Golf film explained
The film – which stars Jay Hernandez and Dennis Quaid – has recently arrived on Netflix.
The sporting underdog story is one of the most reliable film genres – and another example has just recently arrived on Netflix.
The Long Game – which stars Jay Hernandez and Dennis Quaid – is set in the 1950s, and tells the inspirational story of a group of aspiring Mexican-American golfers called the San Felipe Mustangs.
The group had been deprived of playing at the nearby all-white country club where they had been working as caddies, but managed to overcome severe prejudice in a bid to secure their place in golfing history.
If you've watched the film, you might be wondering just how true to real life the story is – read on for everything you need to know.
Is The Long Game based on a true story?
Yes! Most of what you see in The Long Game is indeed based on fact, with the film adapted from the 2012 non-fiction book Mustang Miracle by Humberto G Garcia.
More like this
The Mustangs were formed in the Texas town of Del Rio in the 1950s, made up of several pupils at the San Felipe High School.
The founding members were Mario Lomas, Felipe Romero, Lupe Falen, Joe Trevino and Gene Vasquez, all of whom appear in The Long Game.
They became interested in golf after becoming employed as caddies at a local club, but were prevented from playing because the club had a discriminatory policy that only allowed white people to take to the course.
JB Peña – played in the film by Jay Hernandez – had suffered the same prejudice, and so took it upon himself to coach the teenagers, and they eventually ended up becoming the 1957 Texas state champions.
Speaking to EW, one of the former team members, Gene Vasquez, described the story as "a dream come true".
"We were fighting brutal poverty and brutal discrimination," he explained. "Our parents were migrants, they were illiterate, and we were very poor.
"So, to us, this was very exciting, because we could enjoy caddying, making a little money, and learning how to play golf by mimicking the golfers.
"And then we got an idea - let's make our golf course. We started gathering all the equipment, and we started swinging."
The Long Game is now streaming on Netflix – sign up from £4.99 a month. Netflix is also available on Sky Glass and Virgin Media Stream.
Check out more of our Film coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
