No shoes, no problem for Kevin Turner Golf Tournament host Proctor
Auburn placekicker Alex McPherson took part in Monday’s Kevin Turner Golf Tournament at the RTJ Capitol Hill course in Prattville. (Tim Gayle)
By TIM GAYLE
PRATTVILLE -- Playing golf in crocs?
It didn’t seem to bother former Alabama placekicker Michael Proctor, who did his part as a guest host for the 29th annual Kevin Turner Golf Tournament on Monday, hitting a shot for each round of golfers as he sported a multi-colored pair of crocs, probably a first for the Robert Trent Jones golf course.
Proctor, an All-American kicker at Alabama in 1993 and 1994, played his share of golf in college and even for a few years afterward, but was probably a little rusty when he took the course on Monday morning.
“I actually had to find my golf clubs,” he said. “I couldn’t find my golf shoes. But I wasn’t going to wear them anyway. Crocs are great. I mean, if it gets tough, you can just flip them into four-wheel drive and get the all-terrain version.
“From kicking in shoes that were way too small, I can’t wear that. I have to wear wide shoes now. I do own some regular shoes but I rarely wear them.”
Proctor and current Auburn placekicker Alex McPherson were the guest hosts for the annual event, which started in the late 1990s after Prattville native Kevin Turner loaned his name to the event to help the Prattville YMCA raise funds for its Coach-A-Child campaign.
Turner attended the event on an annual basis after his retirement from the National Football League until his untimely death in March, 2016, from chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE.
Turner made a brief appearance at the 2015 tournament with guest host Gary Hollingsworth, a former Alabama quarterback and teammate of Turner. After Turner’s death, the Turner family was honored as the second guest host.
Since then, the tournament has had former Turner teammates as guest hosts, including Siran Stacy (2017), Antonio Langham (along with Andrew Zow in 2018), Sherman Williams (2019), Martin Houston (2020), Roger Shultz (2021) and Preston Gothard (2022). Former Auburn running back and coach Carnell Williams was the guest host in 2023, former Alabama punter Chris Mohr was the 2024 guest host and quarterbacks Jake Coker of Alabama and Jeff Burger of Auburn served as guest hosts in 2025.
“This is a lot of fun,” Proctor said. “And it’s for a great cause. What I thought was amazing is all the people who volunteer from the YMCA, that I talked to, were members of the YMCA growing up. They continue to give back. That is really what Kevin Turner was about. This is really a nice turnout, too. It’s a huge impact on the community of Prattville.”
For the second consecutive year, Auburn had representatives at the event who knew less about Turner but quickly grasped the magnitude of the event.
“It’s been awesome,” McPherson said. “I didn’t really know a lot about the tournament or Kevin and just getting to learn about him and how this tournament has grown over the years and just how big it is, it’s been awesome to support this organization and to be able to be out here.”
The tournament was played on the Senator and Legislator courses, with each guest host taking a course and playing a hole with participants. McPherson, who wore regular tennis shoes for his role as guest host, said the experience was “not too bad. It definitely got better as the day went on.”