CINCINNATI, Ohio — A group of friends came together to play golf when they noticed something was missing.

When Yvonne Twitty’s son died, she said something or someone told her to play golf.

“After this voice came to me saying, ‘see if I can hit the ball. I went to the driving range, couldn’t hit the ball, got mad, put the old clubs in the car went back, hit the ball,” Twitty said.

But she didn’t just play golf, she found family. She became president of the ‘Les Birdies,’ a competitive golf league in Cincinnati made up of Black women golfers like Diane Lewis.

She's been perfecting her swing as a part of the group since the 80s.

“Since I've been playing for a really long time, at some point I’m gonna get too old to play and we need younger people to come in right behind us,” Diane Lewis said.

But when she passed the golf clubs on to her daughter, Danielle Lewis, it sparked something else unexpected. 

“I thought, ‘wow,’ I’d love to have my girlfriends out on the golf course playing too,” Danielle Lewis said.

She started a league of her own made up of younger Black women golfers. 

“Representation is everything, and golf is typically a white, male-dominated sport, and so it’s important for people like me and my girlfriends, and people like the ‘Les Birdies’ and my mom and her friends to be out on the golf course and show people that anyone can play this sport,” Danielle Lewis said.

She said they’re hoping to inspire more to break barriers and become a part of the family through golf.

“There’s a reason for everything with golf,” Twitty said.