Spring Lake’s Kramer takes home the 104th Michigan Women’s Amateur Championship
SPRING LAKE, Mich. (BVM) — Anna Kramer is no stranger to the Michigan amateur golf scene. After a decorated high school career at Spring Lake, Kramer has taken her talents to the University of Indianapolis, where she had a breakout junior year on the links this past season. But one of her finest accomplishments in the sport came last month when she won the 104th Michigan Women’s Amateur Championship.
Kramer first took up the sport of golf around age 5, and was introduced to the game by her parents and older brother as members of Muskegon Country Club. Kramer also played soccer and tennis in her youth — the latter of which she would pick up again to play in high school.
During her youth golf career, Kramer participated in many local junior tournaments, often winning against local competition. While in middle school, the now 21-year-old created her fondest youth golf memories as she twice qualified for the Optimist International Junior Golf Championship held at PGA National.
Kramer was primed for a special prep career at Spring Lake High School, and she delivered. In her freshman year, Kramer helped Spring Lake to a fourth place finish at state. But that was just the beginning.
Over the next three years, the Lakers’ girls golf program was absolutely dominant. Behind Kramer’s leadership, the team would go on to win three consecutive MHSAA Division 3 state championships.
“I was just in a special group of girls during high school,” Kramer said. “We just had a lot of good golfers going through the school at that time which doesn’t always happen. It was really awesome because I don’t think a lot of people can say they accomplished what we did in high school.”
As a junior in 2015, Kramer would also win an individual state title of her own at Forest Akers Golf Club. She would finish state runner-up as a sophomore, and again as a senior after losing in a playoff to end her prep golf career. But despite the bitter ending, Kramer knows she left a mark on the Lakers program as a true leader of her team.
“I think I showed a good amount of support and leadership throughout high school with the extra experience I had,” Kramer said. “I felt like I shared my knowledge of the game with my teammates and always tried to keep everyone positive.”
While in high school, Kramer would also win the 2016 Golf Association of Michigan Women’s Championship at just 17 years old. The tournament came down to the wire as the Spring Lake golfer would win in a sudden death playoff. The win was a surprise for Kramer, but also gave her a great deal of confidence moving forward.
“It wasn’t something I expected to happen,” Kramer said about the victory. “I was playing with a lot of good college and high school players so it was a pretty cool accomplishment. Knowing I was capable of doing something like that definitely gave me some extra confidence.”
After high school, Kramer decided to take her talents on the links south to the University of Indianapolis. The 21-year-old had a fair amount of local college golf offers, and was strongly considering going to Western Michigan University until a coaching change occurred at the school. But she then started talking to her current coach, Brent Nicoson, and after a couple of visits to the UIndy campus, she was sold on the school.
Kramer joined a loaded Greyhounds team as a freshman as the only recruit for her class. Although she felt intimidated throughout an up and down season, Kramer still averaged a score of 78.5, and finished in the top-20 in three tournaments.
In her sophomore season, the Greyhound golfer began regaining her confidence back, playing in all 15 of UIndy’s tournaments. She would help her team to a conference title and an appearance in the NCAA Division II Women’s Golf Championships. The strong finish in her second collegiate golf campaign would set the stage for a spectacular junior season.
“Ending the way I did in my sophomore year gave me a lot more confidence going into my junior year,” Kramer said. “This past year I was just way more comfortable and relaxed and I think that showed with the way I played as well.”
As a junior, Kramer had a breakout season. The 21-year-old reduced her scoring average to 75.06, which was No. 11 on the program’s all-time season scoring average list. She continued with strong tournament showings throughout the year, including a season-best fourth place finish at the Music City Invitational.
The special season earned the star golfer some impressive accolades, including All-Great Lakes Valley Conference, All-East Region, and All-American Honorable Mention. Kramer is proud of what she accomplished, finally realizing her potential at the next level.
“Getting the All-American Honorable Mention was really exciting and I didn’t expect that to happen at all,” Kramer said. “My roommate Pilar Echeverria is a really good teammate and one of the best golfers UIndy has ever had. So being around her was a good influence on me and moved me into a better direction. When you start playing well you get some momentum going and I just felt like I had that his past year.”
Kramer has carried that momentum into the summer while back home in Michigan. Last year, the standout golfer competed in the 103rd Michigan Women’s Amateur Championship, held at her home course — Spring Lake Country Club.
After winning the stroke play portion of the event, Kramer entered into match play as the No. 1 seed. However, she was bounced early on in the round of 16 after an incredible 24-hole match, creating a bittersweet ending to the championship.
“When a tournament is at your home course you have a whole new level of expectations and pressure,” Kramer said. “I played well in the stroke play and it was exciting being home and having a lot of people there that I knew. I was bummed to lose in the match play but it’s just one of those things that happens.”
However, that loss would serve as a bit of motivation for Kramer going into this year’s state amateur championship. Combined with the momentum she had coming off of her junior season, Kramer was destined for a stronger finish this year.
The 104th Michigan Women’s Amateur Championship was held at Forest Akers Golf Club, a place Kramer is very familiar with from her high school career. The 21-year-old would again win the stroke play portion of this year’s event, setting the stage for redemption during match play.
“It’s so hard to win and there are so many good golfers out there,” Kramer said. “But I felt really comfortable and at ease during this year’s tournament. I played solid during the stroke play and felt like I could beat anybody. Playing well all summer helps build the confidence for a week like that.”
Maintaining focus, Kramer rolled through her first few matches, making it all the way to the championship match. She would find herself down for the first time all tournament after the first hole of the championship match against 2018 winner Kerri Parks. But after winning the next three holes, the UIndy golfer would not look back, taking home this year’s title.
“Some tournaments I’m really nervous and others I’m really not,” Kramer said. “I don’t know why but this was just one of the tournaments I wasn’t nervous during. I was calm and confident and proud of what I accomplished.”
Kramer has one tournament remaining to compete in over the summer — the Golf Association of Michigan Women’s Championship, which she won back in 2016. Beyond that, she is looking forward to getting started on her final year of college golf, with goals in mind to finish out her career.
“I definitely hope to be All-Conference, All-Region, and All-American again,” the UIndy golfer said. “I would also love to get one collegiate win and continue to have a good relationship again with my teammates and coaches while staying positive. And of course, winning a national championship is always the main goal.”
Kramer is a business management major and hopes to pursue a career within that field after college. But with her recent emergence, she is often getting asked more and more if professional golf is in her future. Although it has never been a dream or set goal, she hasn’t ruled out the possibility.
“It’s never really been on my radar or a goal of mine,” Kramer said about professional golf. “I wasn’t sure if I would ever be good enough for that but these past few years my game has developed a lot and can continue to develop in the future as well. I haven’t ruled it out so we’ll just see what happens as we move forward.”
Regardless of whether or not she plays professional golf, Kramer has already made quite a mark on amateur golf in the state of Michigan, and now college golf at UIndy. A bright future awaits as she finishes off her collegiate career this fall.
