Later this month, an informal convoy of Sandhills golf course superintendents will be one of many from across the Carolinas heading to the mountains of western North Carolina for a breath of cool air.
By then, everyone hopes this summer will have lost much of its sizzle and that their bentgrass greens will at last be on the road to recovery.
The trip away - this year to Mountain Air Golf Club in Burnsville - is an annual tradition for members of the Carolinas Golf Course Superintendents Association.
Historically, the two-day mix of education and golf is a farewell to the toughest months for those charged with maintaining cool season grass varieties on their greens.
This year it will be tantamount to a wake.
Superintendents from across the Carolinas will trade horror stories of greens beaten to a pasty submission by record heat and humidity.
