Kevin Turner golf tourney a success despite adversity

Martin Houston was the guest host of the 23rd Kevin Turner Golf Tourney at RTJ. He was joined by Kevin’s father, Raymond, to welcome golfers to the event. (Tim Gayle)

By TIM GAYLE

PRATTVILLE – Fifty-five teams took the course on Tuesday for the 23rd annual Kevin Turner Golf Tournament after coronavirus concerns and adjustments altered the look of the annual event at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail at Capitol Hill. 

The tournament features a guest host of the tournament organized by the Prattville YMCA, but the guest host, the date of the tournament and even the course underwent some alterations from previous years. 

Sylvester Croom was the original guest host for the June tournament, but coronavirus concerns caused Croom to withdraw until next year and the tournament to change its date to Sept. 1. The event is usually played on all three RTJ Capitol Hill courses, but work on the Senator course limited play to the Legislator and Judge courses, with 14 teams playing in the morning and 41 more in the afternoon.

The new guest host, former Alabama fullback Martin Houston, serves as an assistant coach at Northridge High with former teammate John Copeland and had to leave in time to conduct practice on Tuesday afternoon. 

Houston came into Alabama’s football program a year after Turner and was redshirted in 1988, then played three years behind Turner before taking over the starting role in 1992.

“First of all, it’s a great honor,” Houston said. “On top of that, it’s been a lot of fun, getting to meet all the people who grew up with Kevin. It was good to see Raymond Turner, Kevin’s dad. I haven’t seen him in about 30 years. That part of it made it a lot of fun.”

Kevin Turner loaned the golf tournament his name after growing up and participating in sports through the YMCA. He went on to a standout career at Prattville High (1984-86) and Alabama (1988-91) before playing for eight seasons in the National Football League with the Philadelphia Eagles and the New England Patriots. He helped the tournament before his untimely passing from chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, in March, 2016.

He 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. Former Tide tailback Siran Stacy was the guest host in 2017, Antonio Langham and Andrew Zow served as co-hosts in 2018 and Sherman Williams served last year. Proceeds from the tournament fund the YMCA Coach a Child Scholarship Fund. 

In addition to serving as an assistant football coach for his son’s football team, Houston is a motivational speaker, general manager of Alabama ONE Insurance, pastor of the Harvest Church in nearby Coker and host of the Martin Houston Show on Tide 100.9-FM in Tuscaloosa at 6 a.m. each weekday. 

That keeps the former running back connected to his college team, which features one of the most talented backfields in America this fall. Last year, the Tide featured Nagee Harris, who rushed for 1,224 yards and 13 touchdowns; Brian Robinson, who rushed for 441 yards and five touchdowns; and Keilan Robinson, who rushed for 254 yards and two touchdowns.

This fall, the Tide returns seniors Brian Robinson and Harris, redshirt freshman Trey Sanders, who sat out last season with an injury, and incoming freshmen Jase McClellan, Roydell Williams and Kyle Edwards, giving the Crimson Tide what is arguably the most talented college backfield in America.   

“Think about Alabama having two guys that are in their fourth year of college football at the running back position, guys who have played a lot of reps,” Houston said. “Age and experience are huge in college football. I look for Nagee and Brian, Nagee especially, to have a good year. It’s going to be interesting to see how they use Trey because all three of those are the same type of running back.

“Keilan Robinson, I thought, would be the change-of-pace back but he’s not around right now so I don’t know what that means, if he’s opting out, transferring, whatever. But I think Roydell Williams is probably going to be a guy who figures into it if they need a change-up back.”

Alabama opens the season on Sept. 26 at Missouri.