TROY — On their own, Tom Christy and Mike Curtis are outstanding golfers who have had much success in local tournaments.

When they join up in team events, they are hard to beat.

“I don’t think any 60 year olds want to come play us at Troy Country Club,” Curtis said with a laugh.

The duo won their third straight Walker Cup Senior Flight title last weekend at TCC and earlier this year won the Miami Valley Golf Association Spring Better Ball, also at TCC.

“I think we make a lot of birdies and that makes up for our bogeys,” Christy said about the duo’s success. “We used to play golf three or four times a week together and we always got along well.”

And that has carried over to team success.

“I am aggressive and Tom (Christy) is more conservative,” Curtis said. “And that is a formula that has worked really for us.”

After winning the Walker Cup Senior Flight in 2018 and 2019 (the event was not held in 2020), they won the Spring Better Ball back in April.

But, there is no question last weekend’s win was probably the wildest ride of all.

First, they almost didn’t play in the event.

“I was at Dr. Booher’s all week,” Curtis said about battling a bad back. “I called Tom on Friday night and said I don’t know whether I will be able to play.”

Then the duo found themselves trailing by six shots after the opening round, when Troy Wilt and Chris Taylor fired an an eight-under par 62.

“Those guys just played fabulous,” Curtis said. “They really played well.”

But Christy Curtis shot 68 Saturday and 69 Sunday to record a one-stroke victory and keep the streak going, but it was anything but easy.

Things got even tougher on Sunday morning when Curtis got a phone call nobody wants to receive when he was headed to the first tee.

“I have been in recovery for a long time,” Curtis said. “I got a phone call telling me the guy who had helped me the most and got me on the right path to becoming a pastor had died. Then, I had to call my wife and tell her. It was definitely a struggle at the start.”

After a one-over par 35 on the front nine, Christy and Curtis still trailed by four shots.

Curtis made a clutch par putt on the 13th hole.

Following birdies on 10, 14 and 15 to pull even, Christy faced a tough five-foot downhill putt on 17 for them to stay even and made it.

“We made a couple big clutch putts,” Curtis said. “Those putts on 13 and 17 were both four or five feet downhill. Those were clutch. And the back-to-back birdies had pulled us even.”

On 18, Curtis had hit his drive into the creek, but found his ball and hit it short of the green.

Christy was in the fairway and hit his approach shot to six feet.

When Wilt and Taylor bogeyed, a two-putt from Christy was good enough for a one-shot victory after a two-under par 34 on the back nine.

“What a shot by Tom (Christy) in there,” Curtis said.

Christy also finished fifth recently in MVGA Senior Metropolitan.

“We just really enjoy playing in the Walker Cup,” Christy said. “It is a really well run event and is always a lot of event.”

And no doubt, the duo will be back for another title defense next year.

“This one was definitely a wild ride,” Curtis said.

For a duo that has become a nearly unbeatable team.