10 to Remember: Winter 2014-15

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.)