Three Iowa State students are part of an elite group of eight interns currently preparing the Augusta National Golf Club’s golf course in Augusta, Ga. for the Masters Tournament which begins April 8.

Chad Wilson, Aaron Patton and Michelle Pelisek, all juniors in horticulture, began their internship this semester.

All three applied for the prestigious positions more than a year in advance.

Wilson and Patton applied for the internship in December 1997.

Wilson said he has eyed the internship for a couple of years and is dumbfounded that it has become a reality.

“I have wanted this since I was a junior in high school,” he said. “In May, we did an interview and then found out in the fall we received the internship.”

Pelisek said she sent course officials her r‚sum‚ in October 1997 and was interviewed in November.

“They accepted her with welcome arms because she was majoring in landscape nursery, and they needed someone in that area,” said Mike Gaul, director of career placement.

Gaul said internships at the world-famous golf course are becoming a tradition for some ISU students specializing in turf grass management.

“About three years ago, two students were the first from ISU to receive internships at Augusta,” he said. “The process is very selective, but in the last four years, every year at least two ISU students have been chosen.”

John Jordan was the first ISU student to do an internship at Augusta. He worked at the club in the spring semester of 1996.

“I was able to grasp firsthand how to handle a major tournament and observe the best professionals in my field,” Jordan said.

Besides maintaining the course, Jordan said he also had the unique opportunity to meet golf professionals.

“I spent some time with Jack Nicklaus talking about course maintenance,” he said. “The club is very private, so at the club, all those famous people are treated like normal people.”

Pelisek said she met Microsoft CEO Bill Gates at the club recently.

“I was working at the back of the clubhouse by the pro shop where the members register, and this guy walked by and said ‘Good morning,'” she said. “I said ‘Good morning’ and had no idea who it was. Then the other intern said, ‘That was Bill Gates.'”

Besides Gates, Pelisek said she met Celine Dion and many pro golfers.

Wilson said he got the chance to speak with Arnold Palmer on one of the course’s greens.

“We were working on the course, and he just came by and talked to us,” he said.

Patton said he was able to assist golfer Payne Stewart in locating one of his putters he had left in the bag room.