Golf

The Long Game wanted to make a film based on a true Texas golf story

Anytime actor José Julián (A better life) would drive past a golf course, he wanted to learn more about this world. Who played? What did they do for a living that got them into the club? He had never experienced anything like it himself.

“[The sport] seemed very exclusive and elitist,” Julián told MySA in a recent interview about his latest film. The long gamewhich had its world premiere on March 12th at the SXSW Film Festival. “It’s almost a culture in itself.”

In The long game, plays Julián Lupe Felan, one of five Mexican-American high school caddies who, with the help of coach JB Peña (Jay Hernandez), form the first golf team at San Felipe High School in Del Rio, Texas in 1955. Based on the 2012 book Mustang miracle by San Antonio attorney Humberto G. Garcia, who graduated from San Felipe in 1972, The long game follows the true story of the five boys who set out to compete against the wealthy, all-white golf teams and ultimately win the 1957 Texas State High School golf championship.

Alongside Julián for the interview with MySA were director Julio Quintana and most of the actors who portrayed the other young golfers: Gregory Diaz IV (in the heights); Miguel Angel Garcia (Promised Land); and a Houston native Christian Gallegos (American crime).

Reminiscent of other underdog, Latino-centric films that happily preceded it spare Parts (Robotics), McFarland, USA (cross country), Critical thinking (chess) and stand and deliver (Calculus), Quintana (Blue Wonder) said one of the reasons he was drawn to the story was that the young men actually built their own makeshift golf course, which consisted of three holes.

“My parents are from Cuba, so I grew up hearing stories about them making their own baseballs and fixing their cars with spare parts,” Quintana said. “I really loved that aspect [Mustang Miracle]. These young people were left out and not allowed to play on real golf courses, so they took matters into their own hands.”

The cast of The Long Game, based on the true story of a Texas high school golf team.

Courtesy of The Long Game/Anita Gallón

Diaz IV, who plays Gene Vasquez in the film, said before filming The long game, he thought golf didn’t look like much fun, especially as it always felt like it was a sport meant for a select few. Now golf is something he enjoys.

“I used to play baseball before, but I fell in love with him [golf] because of the film,” said Diaz IV. “This film sheds new light on the sport, the problems behind it and the solutions we are trying to find [make it more accessible].”

Garcia, who plays Felipe Romero, worked as a caddie through high school, so he knew a little more about golf than his co-stars. But even as a caddy, Garcia was never naturally drawn to the sport. Only when I found out about the story behind it Mustang miracle that he recognized how much skill and technique is required to play and why golf is considered a “gentleman’s game”. The term meant even more to these young Latino men because everyone was watching how they performed in competition with other schools.

“The boys dealt with their identities a lot on the golf course,” Garcia said. “They were proud of who they were and yet played the game with a lot of personality within the lines of the sport.”

Diaz IV added: “Especially for these five boys – because of the color of their skin – they didn’t have the freedom to behave as they wanted on the course. Some things made them better players, but they also had to hide a bit.”

Garcia said it’s important to look back to that era and recognize that these young men at San Felipe High School in the 1950s offered other Latinos an opportunity to play a sport they believed was impossible.

“They paved the way for something bigger,” he said. “You paved the way for our generation.”