Everyone is a little cranky.....

even Barney, who was seen attacking sprinklers!
We call it August syndrome, which is different from Augusta syndrome, although equally maddening and frustrating.
August syndrome typically can be observed in mid August in most golf industry professionals, and is the result of mental and physical fatigue. It can be caused by attempting to cram a whole years worth of recreation for members and guests into a 12 week period. It cumulates with the frantic drive, every day, to your worst green to see how much has died overnight. I am getting better though, not once this year did I sleep in my office to make sure the irrigation system ran, or simply to be here in case number one red needed me in the middle of the night. I get a little better each year.
This is definitely no time to turn you back, much of the turf has depleted all of it's carbohydrate reserves. All of it's energy is gone. We witness plants that appear to have adequate soil moisture wilting because of dysfunctional roots (and I thought I was the only one, sorry mom ( she reads this once in a while)).
Yea, the roots have simply quit working, so the plant must create new fragile roots at the surface, and now watering regimes must be changed to accommodate this. We get used to watering deep and looking at healthy grass and then it all goes bye bye. This is the cycle we manage, and we hope the heat and summer doesn't outlast our plants and reserves. Makes me wonder why I do it year after year.
A sucker for punishment,
Turf