Summary
The 2024 filmThe Long Gamedetails the trials of the five real members of the San Felipe High School golf team, the Mustangs. Set in Del Rio, Texas, in 1956, the movie follows a friend group of Mexican high schoolers who form their own championship-winning team despite facing prejudices on and off the golfing greens. Under the guidance of their new coach,the group learns lessons about perseverance, teamwork, and high school sports. Full of montages and racial drama,reviews ofThe Long Gameremark that the high-energy film is a tribute to Texas, golf, and friendship.
The team consisted of Joe Treviño, Gene Vásquez, Lupe Felan, Felipe Romero, and Mario Lomas, who were friends and caddies together before forming the team. Like manysports movies inspired by real-life events, the film takes some creative liberties. However, for the most part,The Long Gamestays true to its historyand the 2010 bookMustang Miracleby Humberto G. Garcia, upon which it was based. Though the five boys were all passionate about golf during high school, they all went on to have various careers, engaging in golf in different capacities after graduating from San Felipe.
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Joe Treviño
Played By Julián Works
Joe Treviño is the Mustangs' hotheaded leader and star. WhileThe Long Game’sending suggests he followed Daniela to the University of Texas Austin, this appears to be fictionalized for the movie. After finishing high school, Treviño attended Sul Ross State University for a year but did not finish his education there. According to the film,he declined several offers to play golf at Southwest Conference schools, similar to his initial rejection of the team in the movie.
The Long Gameis available to stream on Netflix.
After his education, he instead chose to serve in the U.S. Air Force. For 35 years, he worked between the Laughlin Air Force Base in Texas and Travis Air Force Base in California. He retired from service in 1995 and returned to Del Rio for the rest of his life. He never lost his passion for golf, and in his later years,he enjoyed refurbishing golf clubs and giving lessons. Treviño died in 2014, almost a decade beforeThe Long Game, but lived through the book’s publication in 2010. Treviño is depicted as the main member of the team in the film, with a more developed plotline and background.
Gene Vásquez
Played By Gregory Díaz IV
Gene Vásquez started as the nerdy newcomer to both golf and the friend group, but over the course ofThe Long Game, he grew in confidence and skill on the green. Following a path similar to Treviño, Vásquez pursued higher education at Sul Ross University after high school, earning a degree in education. His dedication led him back to the San Felipe School District, where he taught, honoring his alma mater. Whilehe didn’t pursue competitive golf beyond school, Vasquez transitioned to a successful career in real estate later in life.
In 2023, Vásquezpassed away at the age of 83. Before his death, he had the opportunity to attend a premiere ofThe Long Game. His obituary highlighted his legacy as a family man, survived by seven children, 18 grandchildren, and nine great-grandchildren.
Lupe Felan
Played By José Julián
Following high school,Lupe Felan enlisted in the United States Marine Corps, where he and several San Felipe classmates served at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego. With a distinguished career spanning over 30 years, he achieved the rank of Master Gunnery Sgt. After retiring from the Marines, Felan transitioned to a role at the California Department of Motor Vehicles.
Notably, Felan and his peers were honored with a special prescreening ofThe Long Gameat the White House in April 2024.
Residing in Yucca Valley, California,Felan remains an active Southern California Golf Association member. Renowned for his dedication to the sport, Felan plays golf daily, maintaining a single-digit handicap, as shared in the film’s credits. Notably, Felan and his peers were honored with a special prescreening ofThe Long Gameat the White House in April 2024, a testament to his enduring connection to golf and his distinguished military service.
Felipe Romero
Played By Miguel Ángel García
Felipe Romero was the only one in the group to play golf professionally in his life. He continued to learn about the business of professional golf and attended the PGA Business School for Golf Management in San Antonio. Throughout the 1980s, Romero competed professionally in national and international golf mini-tours. During this time, he also worked as a bus conductor and instructor for the Metropolitan Transit Authority in Houston for 29 years.
Along with Gene Vasquez,Romero was able to attend the premiere ofThe Long Gameat the South by Southwest film festivalin Texas in March 2023. He died in May 2024, a month after the film’s wide release. He was buried back home in San Felipe, Texas.
Mario Lomas
Played By Christian Gallegos
After high school, Mario Lomas worked in many golf-related careers.He was a professional golf caddie on the PGA tour. This was similar to the work he was doing at the Del Rio Country Club at the start of the film, though he had gained more respect from his peers. He later worked as a groundskeeper at a country club as well.
In an interview withTexas Monthly, Romero and Felan claimed that they had lost touch with Lomas over the years. In April 2024, Lomas died in Abilene, Texas. Though he was excited to see his story told on the big screen, his family reported that Lomas never got to seeThe Long Gamebefore his passing.
The team was inducted into the Latin American International Sports Hall of Famein Laredo, Texas, for their commitment to the sport and breaking barriers. They also joined the National Hispanic Heritage Hall of Honor. For their perseverance and love of the sport, the five members of the Mustangs had their story memorialized on both page and screen.The Long Gamehighlights the trials and tribulations of the team during high school, who all went on to lead engaging lives in public service after their time at San Felipe High School.
The Long Game
Cast
In 1956, JB Peña and his wife moved to the small town of Del Rio, TX, partly for a job as a school superintendent, but mostly to fulfill JB’s dream of joining the prestigious, all-white Del Rio Country Club. So when JB is rejected on the basis of his skin color, he is devastated. But his world soon collides with a group of young latino golf caddies who work at the country club, and JB is inspired by the handmade course the boys built in the country to teach themselves golf. With little experience and even fewer resources, JB convinces the boys to start their own high school golf team, starting them all on a journey where they learn that it takes more than just golf skills to make history.
