When Eduardo Derbez Torres was growing up in Mexico, golf was the unlikeliest of his options. 

“I used to play soccer, tennis and golf, so I was kind of all over the place,” Derbez Torres said. “And then when I turned 12, that’s when I left both tennis and soccer, and I just focused on golf fully.”

Pursuing golf came with limitations. Compared to the United States, opportunities in Mexico to compete and develop in the sport are scarce. Mexico is reported to have around 250 golf facilities, according to Links Magazine, a figure that pales in comparison to the approximately 16,000 golf courses in the U.S. 

“If you (want) to get recruited by (a) good school, you have to come here to the U.S. to try to play with the better golfers,” Derbez Torres said. 

Now a sophomore on the University of Texas men’s golf team, Derbez Torres is part of a growing wave of Latin American golfers entering elite collegiate programs. This shift reflects broader changes in the sport long-defined by limited diversity. 

Still, he acknowledges the challenges remain. Hector Cortez, president of the Latin American Golf Association, based in San Jose, California, pointed to costs, access and exposure when asked about the biggest barriers for young Latin American golfers. 

But to Cortez, access is just as important as creating a welcoming environment. 

“When players come out, they hear familiar language, they see familiar faces and they feel part of something,” Cortez said. “There’s a real appetite for golf in the Latino community when the environment is welcoming and accessible.”

Derbez Torres is among one of the many young individuals that has broken through the sport. Texas head coach John Fields said Derbez Torres stood out early not just for his mechanics, but his ability to win at a high level. 

“He’s a winner,” Fields said. “And one of the things that I always look for in a player is ‘Have they won?’ Because if they’ve won, then they can win again, and that’s what we’re looking for.”

And as one of a small but growing number of Latin American golfers in college programs, Derbez Torres is aware of what his presence represents.

“I’m really proud to be a Latin American playing golf,” he said. “Every time I play good somewhere, I always like seeing the Mexico flag at the top of (the) leaderboard.”

He grew up admiring Mexican golfer Abraham Ancer, one of the country’s most successful modern golfers. It’s a sign of the limited but growing visibility of Latin American players at the highest levels. That global growth is reflected directly in recruiting. 

“Golf (is) a world game,” Fields said. “We want the best players and the best individuals, and honestly, the best people on our golf team, wherever they come from.”

Participation has also surged at the collegiate level. A 2025 NCAA report found that Hispanic and Latino student-athletes’ participation has increased 62% over the past decade, with golf seeing a 13.7% rise in just the past year. 

As more Latin American golfers enter the collegiate pipeline, players like Derbez Torres are both beneficiaries of and contributors to that growth. 

“I think it’s just a matter of time for it to (keep) growing even more,” Derbez Torres said.

From a country with limited avenues to one of the nation’s top collegiate programs, Derbez Torres’ journey reflects a broader shift happening across the sport, one that is slowly changing what golf looks like and who it includes.