'They'll grow from this' - GB&I Walker Cup captain on sore last session in California

But the Great Britain & Ireland captain said he was still “proud” of the display put up over two days by his players at Cypress Point and is hoping the ones who are still around for next year’s contest at Lahinch can be on a winning team on that occasion.

Bidding to win on US soil for just the third time, GB&I trailed by one point at the end of the opening day and still held high hopes of emulating the teams from 1989 and 2001 after Sunday’s foursomes session ended 2-2.

However, as was the case in the 2023 match at St Andrews, the Americans, captained by Nathan Smith, dominated the concluding the singles from the start, winning the session 8.5-1.5 - the largest margin since the expansion to ten head-to-head last-day matches in 2009 - on this occasion to record a 17-9 victory.

It was a fifth straight win for the US in the biennial event, leaving Robertson and his players feeling disappointed after going toe-to-toe with their rivals for a day and a half and looking as though they could come out on top.

In the end, though, they could have no complaints because, ultimately, the Americans holed the putts that mattered and that, of course, is how all golf’s big team events are decided.

“We came here with a focus to raise our standard, to emulate what's only been done twice in 100 years, which is to beat the US,” said Robertson, the University of Stirling Head of Golf, as he assessed his team’s performance.

‘The big difference for us is we need to be better putters’

“But Nathan's team, big congratulations to them. They've played fantastic. We were in it. We fought hard. Our foursomes performances were exceptional. I think the big difference for us is we need to be better putters.

“The US team is loaded with talented individuals, but we are, too. But we never really managed to kind of clutch out some of the games.”

In the build up to the match, GB&I had pulled off a confidence-boosting win over the Continent of Europe in the St Andrews Trophy in Madrid, with the nine players from that match being joined by Niall Shiels Donegan for this assignment.

It didn’t end up how Robertson had hoped, but, at the same, the man who played in the match at Interlachen in 1993 reckons his players can still head away from the Monterey Peninsula with their heads held high.

“I'm exceptionally proud of my players,” he added. “They'll grow from this. I was in the same position 32 years ago as a Walker Cupper at Interlachen. As much as losing sucks, if it didn't, then it wouldn't matter. They'll use that.

“This whole week has been amazing. I felt that we were in the match for most of it. We were really strong in the foursomes day one and day two. Certainly to be 6½-5½ down yesterday, I didn't feel that reflected the play, and then this morning there was a big pivotal moment in the first foursomes match where it swung, and then that put us behind 8½-7½ going into the singles.

“We still firmly believed that we had it in us to win, but hats off to Nathan and the US team because they were outstanding this afternoon in the singles. In fact, they were outstanding both days in the singles, and that really has been the difference. The US team holed more putts that were important putts in important moments.”

GB&I will only have to wait 12 months to try for another chance to stop the rot rather than 24 months due to the next match being played in 2023 so that it is not held in the same year as the World Amateur Team Championship.

“The memories these kids are going to have are going to last a lifetime, and for a number of them they're going to get to come back I'm sure to Lahinch in a year's time, and they're doing to have to do it all again,” said Robertson, who will almost certainly been handed a second stint by The R&A.

“It's not going to be any easier; it's going to be equally as difficult. But they certainly have got the talent, and with a little bit of belief and a little bit more growth in their careers, then Lahinch could well be a real exciting match.”

Connor Graham says it was still a ‘fun week for all of us’

Playing in the match for a second time, Blairgowrie teenager Connor Graham picked up two-and-a-half points from his four games, which included a tie with Mason Howell in the singles.

“It's been such a great week from start to finish,” said the 18-year-old. “It's been a week to remember. Getting to play a Walker Cup at Cypress Point is something really special and something you'll only get to experience once. It's just been such a fun week for us all.

“I think a lot of the matches were just really close, so it comes down to a putt here or there. Next year, I think we just kind of have to be on it. If everyone has a good day, instead of being one down and you're one up, it makes a huge difference by the end result.”

Graham, who has just started his junior year at Texas Tech, is still likely to be available for the Lahinch match, as should Shiels Donegan, who has started his new college season at North Carolina after transferring from Northwestern.

However, Cameron Adam, the third Scot in this team, is set to turn professional over the coming few weeks and is set to secure either a DP World Tour or Hotel Planner Tour card for his rookie season through the Global Amateur Pathway.