This photo was taken in an out of play area on the 15th hole.
At HCC, out desired turf species in rough is Kentucky Bluegrass. KBG grows best when temperatures are near 75 degrees, full sun and dry. That said, our climate is the main challenge. 100" of rain per year and cool temperatures make maintaining a pure stand of KBG a real challenge. Other species of grass that do better in our climate (poa annua, pao trivialis, bentgrass) all contaminate our KBG rough and most of the time, out compete it. In this picture, it is the bentgrass that is looking stressed due to the drought and hot days we've been experiencing lately. This is the only time of year that KBG has any kind of competitive advantage over these other species. In northern climates like Pennsylvania (for which I am familiar), maintaining KBG isn't as much as a challenge because the hotter, dryer summers don't allow those other species to survive as easily. Simply put, Mother Nature takes care of it for us. In Highlands, that is not the case. There are a few chemicals on the market that offer some, but not 100% control of these unwanted grasses.
The other difference between HCC and other courses in Northern Climates is the height of cut. We maintain our roughs at a height of 2" This is low for KBG. At Oakmont, for example, 3" was the daily height of cut. This makes the bluegrass a whole lot healthier. However, for members used to playing on bermudagrass, 3" cool season turf is not easy to get used to.