MATT GENTRY The Roanoke Times

Mike Campbell, assistant superintendant at the Pete Dye River Course of Virginia Tech in Fairlawn, watches an irrigation sprinkler on one of the greens. The staff irrigates the course with river water in the mornings. In cases of extreme heat, the grounds crew will sometimes turn the sprinklers on during the heat of the day to cool air temperature as well as the greens.

MATT GENTRY The Roanoke Times

Dalton Joyce, 8, douses himself with cold drinking water during Junior Golf Camp at the Pete Dye River Course of Virginia Tech on Thursday. The camp's 30 students take a break from playing every 15 minutes to sit and drink water or lemonade.

| Katelyn Polantz

katelyn.polantz@roanoke.com, 381-1669

FAIRLAWN -- Record-setting heat hasn't deterred golfers from forging across brittle roughs and fairways.

Morning tee times have been popular at several New River Valley courses -- including The Virginia Tech Golf Course, Pete Dye River Course of Virginia Tech and the Meadows Golf & Country Club -- as temperatures rose above 90 each day since Monday.

Greenskeepers struggled to keep the grass hydrated, course managers said. If they hadn't, the grass could die or go dormant, ruining it for rolling golf balls the rest of the year.

"We have more golfers than we thought we'd have," said Danny Crawford, co-owner of the Meadows in Montgomery County. "We're actually doing real good for the weather."

The club's new $5 discount per round for weekday golfers 55 years old or older may have drawn some players into the sun, he said. Most hit the tee by 7 or 8 a.m.

Crawford, 60, played the 113-acre course Wednesday evening, after Blacksburg reached a record-setting 94 degrees.

"It drained the energy faster," he said.

The Meadows counted 48 golfers Wednesday, slightly fewer than a typical 55 rounds per day, he added.

The River Course in Pulaski County also tallied average numbers this week, with 94 players on a 94-degree Tuesday, another high temperature record.

"Yesterday was crowded; there were people on every hole," said Mark Cote, the River Course superintendent, on Wednesday. "It's a pain for me. You water and get out of the way, water and get out of the way.

"Today, from a maintenance standpoint, it's a perfect day -- aside from the heat."

Sixty-two golfers played the course Wednesday, about 20 fewer than average, assistant golf pro Ryan Peffer said.

Cote looked across a vacant back nine from the clubhouse balcony at noon.

One of his seven groundskeepers shuttled a coiled hose in the back of a golf cart.

The workers water the greens, tees and fairways with these hoses throughout the day.

The workers spray almost 50 gallons a minute by hand, in an effort to cool the ground. At night, irrigation systems turn on and pump 300,000 gallons or more across the course.

Chris Lovrine, head golf pro at Virginia Tech Golf Course in Blacksburg, worried about irrigation, too.

She helped four 6-year-old girls attending golf camp at the River Course this week to stay hydrated.

They took a break from playing every 15 minutes to sit and drink water or lemonade, Lovrine said.

At Tech's nine-hole course on campus, rounds played this week barely reached the club's daily average of between 30 to 50 players.

"It's just been too hot. Even my regulars aren't playing," Lovrine said.

A few golfers play at Tech every day of the week, she said. They usually stop only for snow, ice and lightning.

Persistent heat and some humidity hasn't drawn rain to the area this month, according to the National Weather Service. And, a hot and dry spring has kept the precipitation level in Blacksburg 5.19 inches lower from normal since January.

Officials in Montgomery County and the town of Pulaski banned residents from burning this week.

"This is not a major draught; it's an area draught," Cote said, looking at the River Course's browned grass along the New River.

"It'll get through; it always does. It's just the journey getting through."