The United States Golf Association gave precious little notice that it planned to reveal half of its Walker Cup side for 2013 on Wednesday.

The media was alerted less than two weeks ago that John “Spider” Miller — the 1996 and 1999 U.S. Mid-Amateur champion — would be named to succeed two-time captain Jim Holtgrieve in 2015. Miller will captain the team at Royal Lytham (and again, one presumes, at Los Angeles country club in 2017.) No mention was made of the impending revelation of the first five members of Team USA 2013. And then, on Wednesday of U.S. Amateur Public Links/British Open week, the podium went live and the Walker Cup was the topic.

The Walker Cup, first contested in 1922, pits ten-man sides from GBI (Great Britain and Ireland) and the USA. The trophy is named for George Herbert Walker, ancestor of two U.S. Presidents and president of the USGA when the match was initiated. The biennial event will be contested at the National Golf Links of America in September, the 43rd playing of the match.

Never before have two teams so dominated division one college golf in the U.S. It was expected that Alabama and Cal-Berkeley would square off in the match-play final, until Illinois pulled off the upset of the top-ranked Bears in the semifinals (they lost to the Crimson Tide in the championship). Two players each from the Tide and the Bears were named to the USA Walker Cup team. Justin Thomas and Cory Whitsett will represent Alabama, while Max Homa and Michael Kim will carry the colors of California into battle. This quartet will be joined by Patrick Rodgers of Stanford, perhaps the hottest amateur golfer on the planet.

Michael Kim electrified the galleries at Merion golf club in Pennsylvania during the U.S. Open in June. Kim spent some time on the leaderboard before finishing as low amateur, tied for 17^th overall. Patrick Rodgers competed in the John Deere Classic in July on the PGA Tour, where he made his first cut in a professional event. He shot in the 60s both weekend days and finish tied for 15^th overall.

Cory Whitsett won the Northeast Amateur in Rhode Island in June, after completing his junior year. Whitsett stood out in match play (the format used in the Walker Cup) with three wins at the NCAA championships and a 3-0-1 record at the 2013 Palmer Cup, also a team match-play event.

Justin Thomas has not won an individual amateur event since the 2012 Jones Cup, but he did represent the USA at the 2012 World Amateur Team championship and did reach the semifinals of last year’s US Amateur championship.

Left off the team thus far are Bobby Wyatt of the University of Alabama and Michael Weaver of Cal-Berkeley. Both are in the thick of the race for one of the final three spots designated for the under-25 set. In January, the USGA announced that a minimum of two spots would be reserved for mid-amateurs, players over the age of 25. During the last two Walker Cup matches, Nathan Smith has carried the torch for the older generation, as did Trip Kuehne and George Zahringer before him. The USGA suggested that the presence of wizened competitors matters as much as a win, yet failed to name either selection this week.

Smith is expected to be named to the team in August, given his success in previous competitions and his stature as the only four-time USGA Mid-Amateur champion. Since another slot is up for grabs, many over-25 competitors have registered for events like the Northeast, the Sunnehanna and the Porter Cup, hoping to catch the eyes of Captain Holtgrieve and the selection committee.

The USGA typically names its U.S. Amateur champions to the team, so the remainder of the team is not expected to be named until that tournament concludes in mid-August. The winners of the upcoming Porter Cup and Western Amateur will certainly make a case for their own candidacies.