A true and monumental story in the world of American sports has reached the big screen with the release of “The Long Game.” The movie was released on Apr. 12 and displays the true story of an underdog team of Mexican-American golfers from San Felipe High School.
The team overcame racist barriers in their successful quest to win the 1957 Texas State Golf Championship. This uplifting film entertains throughout by sharing one of the key stories in the evolution of golf and the history behind the players and teams who helped shape the sport.
“The Long Game” begins with an introduction to one of the main characters, “JB Peña,” who is played by actor Jay Hernandez. Peña, the assistant principal of San Felipe High School, intends to join a historically white country club in South Texas to play at the acclaimed golf course amongst the elite members of the club. Upon his rejection of membership from the club, he notices five young Mexican-American caddies working at the club who are determined to learn and succeed at golf, despite the fact they do not have the proper resources or coaching.
These five young caddies, also students at San Felipe High School, became the founding members of the school’s first ever golf team, which was coached by Peña. They would go on to compete for the state championship against wealthy all-white teams that had stronger resources and equipment.
As the plot of the movie is developed, key character “Joe Trevino,” who is played by actor Julian Works, helps shape the storyline and display the feelings of people during this time period in American history about a Mexican-American team playing in a historically white sport. Trevino, who was Peña’s first recruit to the team, comes from a hard-working family in South Texas who strongly were against him participating in any sport and were hopeful he would begin at a job rather than play golf.
Trevino, through his passion for the sport, helped to build a makeshift golf course with his four teammates in the middle of the South Texas desert, where they would spend hours a day practicing despite their inferior equipment and resources. Trevino, who throughout the movie had incidents of prejudice against him occurring at restaurants and on the golf course from his opponents, became the elite player on the team, having the best score in the golf tournaments they participated in.
In spite of the prejudice Trevino, Coach Peña and the five-member team faced on their journey to earning a state championship, they continued to overcome and succeed as they dealt with unfair rulings during the game and poor treatment from club hosts after the games. Despite this, in 1957, against all odds, San Felipe High School became the Texas State Golf Champions, defeating the better funded and more experienced teams in the state.
“The Long Game” not only is tremendously entertaining with great action and an exciting storyline; The importance of this story in American sports history and the development of golf on a global stage makes this an informative and uplifting watch. I rate this movie a five out of five stars and highly recommend viewing before it leaves the theaters.
