As a three-time Navajo Trail Open champion, Micah Rudosky has his eyes on the top prize again in this year’s tournament.

But at the scorer’s table after Friday’s first round at Hillcrest Golf Club, Rudosky’s gaze ultimately moved from the early leaderboard to the green behind him.

There, son Jakob Rudosky was finishing his round on No. 9 in championship flight play just moments after dad had completed his round on No. 18 in the pro division.

And Micah also was keeping an eye out for Chris Aitken, who finished on No. 9, also in the championship flight, just moments before Jakob.

“Good job, Chris,” Micah said as Aiken walked past the scorer’s table after an even-par 71 - the same score Micah posted. Then, turning, he got the lowdown on Jakob’s impressive 2-under 69, which Jakob said included a triple bogey. He was tied with Gavin Lyons atop the championship flight – Lyons has dominated the flight in recent years – and Aiken was tied for fourth.

Jakob and Aiken played golf for Micah at Montezuma-Cortez High School, and he seemed to have as much interest in how they scored as he did in his own game.

And that’s where he is after the first round of the NTO - in the thick of things and hoping to contend this weekend, but hoping for equally as good of things - or better - for “his boys.”

“I’m always looking at my (former) high school kids,” said Micah, the longtime head pro and manager at Conquistador Golf Course in Cortez. Smiling, he added “We always have a little competition among ourselves.”

But that’s not to say he still isn’t about the competition within the pro division. He’ll have some catching up to do, though, as he trails leader Zenon Brown, brother of defending champion Zahkai Brown, after Zenon’s 5-under 66 Friday. Bryan Kruse was next at 68, and Zahkai Brown and Benoit Beisser rounded out sub-70 scorers with 69s.

“For me, what worked, is I played steady,” Micah said. “I didn’t make anything crazy, I had one up-and-down and one three-putt. It was one of those even-par rounds. It was nothing special.

“I want to be in the 60s every time I come here. That’s my goal, and usually you’ll be in the hunt going to the last day.”

That would bode well for defending champ Zahkai Brown, who bounced back from a 75 in Thursday’s Pro-Am.

“It’s tournament time - no time for foolish things,” Brown said with a smile, referring to an 11 he took on the par-5 17th hole in the pro-am.

Friday was a steady, albeit unspectacular performance, he said.

“Too many bogeys ... Too many mental mistakes,” he said. “I had six birdies and four bogeys. The pins were tougher than in the pro-am and the tees were back further. But the course is in good shape.”

He wasn’t the only player lauding course conditions.

“The course is so nice,” Micah said. “I’m looking forward to getting out here early (Saturday). The greens are ... slick, but they’re rolling so true.”

Following the pros

Pros flip from afternoon to morning tee times for Saturday’s second round. The 8:26 a.m. foursome may be the the marquee grouping of the day as it includes two former NTO champions - Keenan Holt of Durango and Tom Kalinowski, who resides in Arizona but has deep Durango roots.

Like in Friday’s opening round, defending champion Zahkai Brown’s group again will lead off the pros Saturday, teeing off at 7:54 a.m. Other former champions include Micah Rudosky, who goes off at 8:10 a.m., Tom’s brother Bobby Kalinowski, at 8:42 a.m., and Doug Rohrbaugh, at 8:50 a.m.

Pros again will tee off starting in the afternoon for Sunday’s final round - in order of their scores through two rounds, with the four lowest scorers teeing off in the last group at about 2:30 p.m.

Cruel coincidence

Hillcrest head professional John Vickers still was shaking his head in disbelief Friday afternoon.

During Thursday’s NTO Pro-Am, Vickers told The Durango Herald that, sadly, a spot had come open on the amateur side of the tournament following news that an entrant, Jose Soto, 56, of Farmington had died Tuesday after the raft he was in flipped in Durango Whitewater Park.

The Hillcrest Junior Golf Foundation, the beneficiary of the NTO, even planned to send a sympathy card to the Soto family.

Soto hadn’t entered Thursday’s pro-am, so when the event came and went, Vickers had no reason to believe another mid-50s Jose Soto of Farmington would show up for Friday’s first round of the NTO.

But he did, shocking Vickers and the folks at Hillcrest. Vickers already had filled Soto’s spot, but because of some juggling after a withdrawl following Thursday’s pro-am, Soto was back where he originally was slotted - in the championship flight.

Vickers said Soto took news of the mixup in stride.

bpeterson@durangoherald.com