Its Official!

Summer Was Hottest in 75 Years
Superintendents felt it from coast to coast

Golf course superintendents will vouch for this: In 2011, the country endured its hottest summer in 75 years and the second-hottest summer on record, according to data released this week by the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) in Asheville, N.C.

The average U.S. temperature during the summer of 2011 was 74.5 degrees, which was 2.4 degrees above the long-term (1901-2000) average. Only the Dust Bowl year of 1936, at 74.6 degrees, was warmer. Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Louisiana had their warmest summer ever recorded, the climate center also reported.

Texas had its driest summer on record and is in the midst of its worst drought since the 1950s. More than 81 percent of the state is listed as experiencing "extreme drought," according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.

It was a challenging summer for superintendents in many places, especially those whose courses have bentgrass greens.