After Enjoying Pro Golf Stardom, Flynn Relishing Roles as Instructor, Sports Mom
By
Dean Holzwarth
Special for MHSAA.com
July 31, 2025
GRAND RAPIDS – Kristina (Langton) Flynn recently arrived at a flag football tournament in Canton, Ohio, before the Hall of Fame game and was busy monitoring a group of her son’s teammates as they enjoyed themselves in a hotel pool.
It’s been a busy sports life for the past Grand Rapids Catholic Central golf standout and MHSAA Finals individual champion, but she wouldn’t want it any other way as she is currently relishing her role as a sports parent to her two young children, Knox (8) and Palmer (6).
“Being a sports mom is truly what I was meant to be,” Flynn said. “It’s amazing watching them work hard and work to improve in their sports. I’ll always be the loudest and biggest supporter of theirs.”
As a high school senior, Flynn won the medalist honor at the 2007 Lower Peninsula Division 3 Final at Eastern Michigan University’s Eagle Crest Golf Club.
She shot rounds of 79 and 74 for a 153 total and two-shot victory while helping lead her team to a sixth-place finish.
Flynn’s mother, Tammy Langton, was Catholic Central’s coach.
“As I get older, it’s been one of my most favorite memories in my golfing career to look back on,” Flynn said. “To have had my mom as my coach and to be there putting the medal around my neck – that’s a memory I will never forget. And as I get older and have kids of my own now, it’s even more special to have had that memory with her. It was just as much hers as it was mine.”
Flynn’s victory capped the last girls golf season played in the spring before the sport was switched to fall.
Now 36, she made giant strides during her high school career and improved immensely before capping it off with a state championship.
She was an individual qualifier as a sophomore before placing seventh as a junior.
“The progress from freshman to senior year just shows what can happen when you keep working hard and trust the process,” Flynn said.
After high school graduation, Flynn played at Grand Valley State and earned Freshman of the Year and first-team all-league honors in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Association her first season. As a college sophomore, she was selected as a first-team All-American.
Her success at the collegiate level and life-long ambition prompted her to make a major decision.
With the support of her parents, she turned professional in the summer of 2009.
“I had a great experience in college that gave me an avenue to practice and prepare for where I wanted to be while being surrounded by a lot of amazing people,” Flynn said. “Going into college, my goal always was to play professionally. Everything I did was to prepare to be able to play on tour.”
Flynn went to LPGA Qualifying School and earned full-time status.
“After that, I decided not to go back to school,” Flynn said. “I never had a plan B for my career or in my mind – it was always to play professionally.”
Flynn earned status on the Futures Tour, which at the time was an LPGA developmental circuit, and played for two seasons.
“No regrets on the experience because golf has literally given me everything in my life,” Flynn said. “I’m super grateful to have had the opportunity to make my dream a reality.
“Mini-tour golf is a grind, and looking back, I would have done things differently for sure. I was so young and had a lot to learn.”
After Flynn stopped playing professionally, she received Class A PGA certification and started working as a club professional. She still competed for several years in tournaments, including at Michigan PGA and Mid-Atlantic PGA events.
Flynn has been the lead instructor at Kent Country Club the past nine years.
“I love being able to give back to the game that has given me so much,” Flynn said. “To be able to make a positive impact in my student’s game and life.”
Flynn, and her husband, Dan, married in 2016. He was a PGA head professional at Midland Country Club and she was at Cascade Hills Country Club when they met.
They started a family and have been engulfed in youth sports with Knox playing golf, flag football, baseball and basketball and Palmer participating in soccer, basketball and golf.
Knox has competed in the Drive, Putt and Chip junior skills competition.
“They both love to play golf,” Kristina Flynn said, “and it’s been amazing to be able to see it bring them as much joy as it has Dan and I.”
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PHOTOS (Top) At left, Kristina Langton tees off during the 2007 Lower Peninsula Division 3 Final. At right, Langton takes a photo with husband Dan and children Knox and Palmer. (Middle) Kristina Langton takes a photo with her mother and high school coach, Tammy Langton, after receiving her medal for winning the 2007 LPD3 individual title. (High school photos from MHSAA archives. Current photo courtesy of the Flynn family.)
In Just 5th Season, Montague Finishes #1
October 17, 2020
By Tom Lang
Special for Second Half
Montague pulled off an amazing feat Saturday at Forest Akers West by winning its first MHSAA Finals team championship in just the fifth year of the program’s existence.
The Wildcats scored 343 at the Lower Peninsula Division 4 tournament to set a new school record, besting Lansing Catholic at 370. All five Montague players finished among the top 16 individuals, with junior Orianna Bylsma leading with a top-five finish at 81, and senior Megan Brown coming in 8th with 84.
“My mind is racing,” said head coach Phil Kerr. “I’m just so happy for the girls. They earned this. We thought we could do this; we brought four players back from last year. We wanted to win a county championship, win the Regionals, and then just see what happened at states. It’s unbelievable.”
The team finished fourth at the Final last year in its first-ever two-round tournament. Kerr said in 2019 the Wildcats played much better on the second day, which elevated the team into the top five. So, there was some nervousness coming into the tournament this year knowing it would be reduced to one 18-hole round, not the traditional 36 holes over two days. The cutback was due to COVID-19 protocols for distancing and to allow teams to make one day trip instead of needing to stay overnight.
“It’s definitely different, and there’s more urgency for sure,” Kerr said about the reduction to 18 holes. “Getting off to a good start is huge. There’s no time to make up for it. We really focused on, how do we come out, where do we stand after the first three or four holes, and make sure we take care of that.”
Jump out they did.
The Wildcats were ahead by as many as 15-20 strokes very early in the day before sealing the win by the large margin over Lansing Catholic, Michigan Center (371) and 2019 champ Grand Rapids NorthPointe Christian (372).
“On the front nine you never know, something can always happen,” Kerr said about building the original lead. “I think we got comfortable toward the back of the front nine and we relaxed a little bit, but we still shot an amazing score.
“I’m really happy for our seniors, Megan Brown and Katie Unger (tied for 12th). Megan’s been on varsity since she was a freshman. I think she shot 145 at the Regionals that first year, and just shot 84 today to help set our school record and (win) a state championship. Just a credit to hard work. Special kids who love grinding and working hard. I hope they see the rest of their lives if they put their heart and soul into something, they’ll see the results like this.”
Junior Kamryn Shannon of Michigan Center was medalist at 2-over 74, just ahead of Jacquelyn O’Neill of Harbor Springs at 75. Shannon had a troubling day at Regionals scoring an 87, but turned it around for the Final. She admitted the 87 rattled her a little heading into the season’s final event.
“I’ve been working on my driver a lot recently, and today I was hitting almost every fairway, and if not I was just off on the edge,” Shannon said after accepting her first-place medal. “My putting was pretty good today also.”
Shannon said she finished outside the top 30 last year as a sophomore with scores in the 90s.
“I got new clubs and immediately my average started dropping,” she said about getting properly fitted. “I’m super proud all of my hard work paid off in the long run.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Montague’s Orianna Bylsma sends an approach from the 16th fairway during Saturday’s Lower Peninsula Division 4 Final. (Middle) Michigan Center’s Kamryn Shannon holds up her first-place medal. (Click to see more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)