GOLF/ CURTIS CUP:EVEN OUT of the gloom, such as the dark clouds which hovered menacingly over the Essex County Club here in recent days, sometimes it is possible to see the silver lining. Three of them, in fact.

If the 36th edition of the Curtis Cup finished with an all too familiar outcome – another American win, the seventh in succession – there was also the not inconsiderable consolation, from an Irish perspective at least, that the future is inexorably bright.

The US finally defeated Britain and Ireland by 12½ points to 7½ points, with the final singles split four apiece.

But, after the whitewash in both fourballs and foursomes on Saturday which effectively turned the tide in favour of the home side, there was an air of defiance in the singles where all three Irish players won their matches, along with England’s Holly Clyburn at the tail of proceedings.

To prove that golfers come in all sizes, McVeigh – who towers over six feet – and the remarkable 15-year-old Maguires, Lisa and Leona, retained their focus and hinted as what lies ahead with wins of authority.

McVeigh took out the hot-shot US number one Jennifer Song by 3 and 2; Lisa accounted for Kimberly Kim, a former US Women’s Amateur champion, one hole; while Leona defeated Tiffany Lua, who has played in the last three US Women’s Opens, 2 and 1.

Clyburn added some white gloss to the green hue by beating Stephanie Kono 2 and 1 in the bottom match.

In securing a seventh successive win in the biennial match, Cydney Clanton, a 20-year-old who has also played in the US Women’s Open, had the honour of putting the result beyond the point of no return as she defeated Hannah Barwood.

Alexis Thompson, in her last appearance as an amateur before chasing her dream on the LPGA Tour, and Jennifer Johnson had already won their singles matches – by quite a distance – before Clanton sealed the overall win.

Johnson, in fact, emerged with the best record – four wins and one halved – while Lisa Maguire won two of her three matches to lead the B and I statistics.

“We came out of the traps quickly (on Friday) but the standard of golf (in Saturday’s fourballs and foursomes) was just phenomenal,” conceded Britain and Ireland captain Mary McKenna. “But the girls have played their hearts out, but the standard of US golf is just that little bit ahead of us.”

McVeigh, who was literally and figuratively a tower in the visiting team, remarked: “I played well, but it is a team competition and you’re rooting for everybody on the team to do well. That’s what it comes down to at the end of the day.

“We put up a great fight the first day and came out one ahead, then let it get away from us, but we’re very proud of our game.”

The Maguires will surely have more Curtis Cups to add their CVs, but both showed their tenacious spirit yesterday. Lisa was one down through 10 holes to Kim after driving into heavy rough, but got back to all square with a winning par on the 12th – where her opponent was plugged in a bunker and failed to save par. She moved into the lead on the 14th where Kim three-putted on the notoriously slick greens. She held the one hole advantage to the end, superbly two-putting for par on the last from off the fringe.

“Yes, it’s nice to win, even though it was all over quite a while,” she said. “You’ve just got to play your own game in those circumstances. That’s what Mary (McKenna) said to us at the beginning of the day, just to focus on your own match,” she said.

“It was nice to win two out of three (matches) and it would have been nice to play a bit more, that’s just the way it was. I’m happy with how I played all week and I’ll just try and build on this for this season to come.

“I think coming out here, a lot of people thought the Americans were in a different league. I suppose we proved after the first day when we play our best we can be up there with the best of them. That’s what we have to take away from this week.”

Leona was always in control against Lua, turning two up with a birdie on the ninth and then moving three up on the 11th with another birdie. After that, it was a case of simply closing the deal, which Leona did with the minimum of fuss, as is her way.

It was an contribution from the Irish players, even if – as McVeigh put it – it is a team competition.

And, on that front, the honours again lay with the Americans.