Brian Harman and Adam Mitchell, two former UGA men’s golf team members who graduated in May, passed up the riches of professional golf this summer for the grind of the amateur golf circuit in quest of one goal – representing their country in the 42nd Walker Cup.

Mission accomplished for two of the most successful golfers in Georgia program history. They were two of eight players named to the United States team for the September 12-13 biennial, team-style competition between the premier amateur players from the U.S., Great Britain and Ireland at the historic Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, Pa.

U.S. Captain Buddy Mariucci will select the final two players to join Harman and Mitchell on his 10-man squad following the 2009 U.S. Amateur on Aug. 30.

“It’s a great honor to be named to the Walker Cup team,” Mitchell said. “It’s a pretty serious deal because a lot of guys want to be on it and there is nothing like representing your country. It’s going to be great playing with all those guys.”

For Harman, who played in the 2005 Walker Cup, and Mitchell, their selection is the culmination of years of hard work and validates their decisions to pass up the lure of professional golf for a couple months in hopes of participating in the “Ryder Cup” of amateur golf.

“All the hard work the last three or four years has really paid off and all the work I’ve put into it; it’s pretty special,” Mitchell said. “This is something special for amateur golf and it is really special to a lot of people. I definitely wanted to stick around and give it a chance. I kind of would have had second thoughts if I hadn’t and I’m definitely glad I stayed.”

Their coach at Georgia, Chris Haack, is especially proud of the two after seeing the formation of their plan prior to making the team, and ultimately sticking to that plan, which culminated with the USGA’s announcement on Sunday.

“Well, The Walker Cup is one of those pinnacles of your amateur career, so to have two guys on the team is just an outstanding feather in the cap of our program,” Haack said. “They both really dedicated themselves to get ready just in case and they both played really well this summer to accomplish their goal.”

With the two’s collegiate playing days complete and the pair reuniting as teammates for what is likely the last time, look for Mariucci to take advantage of the two’s friendship by pairing them as partners during the four-ball matches.

“We have played together a bunch, so we’ll see what happens,” Mitchell said.

Though Mitchell put off turning pro immediately to be in the Walker Cup, the future is something that looks bright for the Chattanooga native.

“I’m going to turn pro after the Walker Cup,” he said. “I have an exemption into the Nationwide tour event in Chattanooga, so that will be good to play at home, and hopefully I can play well there.”

Mitchell hopes the Walker Cup will help him move up in the sport, but he knows that the pros will not be easy.

“I’ll play some events and go to Q-school [qualifying school] and just try to play well and earn some money out there and gain some status for next year.”