Where was The Long Game movie filmed? All filming locations explored

The Long Game, a true-to-life story of sports underdog triumph by director Julio Quintana, premiered on streaming on July 12, three months after it debuted on the big screen. The family-friendly drama chronicles the journey of five young Mexican-Americans who worked as caddies as they built their own golf course somewhere in the South Texas desert in 1955 to be able to play and practice the game they love.

The movie, which was filmed in Colombia and the historical towns of Smithville and Bastrop in Texas, captures the charm of Texas in the 1950s. Based on Humberto G. Garcia's Mustang Miracle novel, The Long Game stars Jay Hernandez, Dennis Quaid, Cheech Marine, Julian Works, Jose Julian, and more.

---

Filming locations of The Long Game explored

1) Colombia

The majority of the scenes in the movie were shot in Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia in South America. While the country is unrelated to the story, it has the features and characteristics of Del Rio, Texas, as well as the neighborhood of the mid-1950s from the real-life setting of the The Long Game true story the movie is based on.

The Long Game writer and director Julio Quintana mentioned during an interview with Film Factual at the SXSW Film Festival in March 2023 that the crew went to look for the real Del Rio setting to give the movie a more authentic feel, but it didn't pan out. He said:

"[But] the problem is that Del Rio has changed a lot since the '50s."

Hence, Colombia's modern cities, natural resources, and diverse culture and tradition served as the primary backdrop of the historical sports-drama film. Quintana added that the golf course scenes featured in the movie were shot in Colombia, further saying:

"The challenge of shooting in Colombia was trying to find places that don't look like Latin America."

---

2) Smithville, Texas

Smithville, which is famous for being the home of the 1998 Sandra Bullock movie Hope Floats, is a key location in the movie as The Long Game is set in Texas in real life.

Both interior and exterior scenes of the houses, as seen in the movie, were shot in Smithville, which is just outside of Austin. The city is known for its small-town charm, historic buildings, and oak-lined streets that capture the beauty of olden times. Talking about why the crew chose to film in the city, Quintana said during the same interview:

"Smithville is a time capsule in a lot of ways; the '50s houses have been really well preserved, and downtown still looks like the '50s."

---

3) Bastrop, Texas

The movie also featured scenes filmed all over Bastrop, the city known as "the most historic small town in Texas," which is just a few short minutes away from Smithville.

---

What is The Long Game all about?

As mentioned above, the movie traces the coming-of-age journey of five Mexican-American students—Joe Treviño, Mario Lomas, Lupe Felan, Gene Vasquez, and Felipe Romero — who later became the famed San Felipe Mustangs.

After getting banned from playing golf at an all-white Del Rio country club, where they also work as caddies, the five youngsters decided to build a makeshift golf course where they could practice. With the help of a Mexican-American coach, JB Peña, they joined the newly created golf team at San Felipe High School and went on to win the 1957 state championship.

---

The Long Game is currently up for streaming on Netflix, Amazon Prime and Apple TV.