Is The Long Game a true story? Everything to know about the Jay Hernandez sports drama

Julio Quintana's sports drama The Long Game tells the inspiring story of war veteran turned San Felipe High School superintendent JB Peña (Jay Hernandez) and how he established and coached the first Latino high school golf club team, the Mustangs, in the 1950s. In response to every racist all-white country club that rejected them, Peña turned an underdog group of Mexican American caddies into golfing champions as they went onto win the Texas state championship in 1957. 

With this powerful tale of resilience, determination, and triumph, you might be wondering if this golfing tale actually happened in real life. Is The Long Game a true story? Were the Mustangs a real team? Where can you watch the movie right now? Here's everything you need to know about The Long Game.

Is The Long Game a True Story?

The Long Game is indeed based on a true story. The San Felipe High School golf team, the Mustangs, was formed in the 1950s in Del Rio, Texas. Mario Lomas, Felipe Romero, Lupe Falen, Joe Trevino, and Gene Vasquez were the founding members of the Mexican American team. The adolescents were employed as caddies at an all-white country club, where they acquired golf skills by observing club members. They were unable to play on the course themselves, however, due to the club's discriminatory policies. The same rules applied to superintendent JB Peña, who was also prohibited from joining any country clubs. After Peña found out that the boys had some power-drive prowess, he started a golf team at San Felipe High School and became their coach.

"It's a dream come true, only in America, really," former Mustang Gene Vasquez told EW ahead the film's 2023 SXSW premiere. "We were fighting brutal poverty and brutal discrimination. 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 film is an adaptation of the 2012 book Mustang Miracle by writer and avid golfer, Humberto G. Garcia,

Who stars in The Long Game

The Long Game features a predominantly Latino ensemble, led by Jay Hernandez as JB Peña. Hernandez is best known as Thomas Magnum, a former Navy SEAL who subsequently became a private detective in the recently canceled Magnum P.I. reboot. The film also stars Cheech Marin, Julian Works, Jaina Lee Ortiz, Paulina Chávez, Gregory Diaz IV, Miguel Angel Garcia, Christian Gallegos, and José Julián.

Alongside Hernandez, Dennis Quaid plays Frank Mitchell, Peña's veteran pal who assists coaching the Mustangs to help get them to championship status. Quaid also produces the film under his newly formed production company banner, Bonniedale.

"When I was reading the script, I was going, this absolutely cannot be true, but yet it is," Quaid told EW. "I love underdog stories and aspirational stories. I don't think people go to see movies; they go to feel movies. And this one really got me in the right way."

Where can I watch The Long Game?

The Long Game is currently streaming exclusively on Netflix. Much like the Mustangs, the film itself had something of an underdog story: Released theatrically under the radar this past March and debuting on Netflix as a champion, the film made a hole-in-one on the Global Netflix Top 10 chart during the July 8-14 week, ranking No. 6 on with over 4 million views.

If you don't have Netflix, the film is available to rent and buy at whatever digital retail platform you use to store your movie library, such as Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play Movies & TV, or Fandango at Home (formerly Vudu).

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