High temperature is an important abiotic stress leading to considerable deterioration in bentgrass quality during summer months and an understanding of the underlying mechanisms associated with heat tolerance is of chief importance in combating these declines in quality.  Prior work has identified several candidate genes associated with bentgrass heat tolerance. The objective of this study is to determine the expression level of several major candidate genes with known functions in relation to heat tolerance in bentgrass species. Two lines of a hybrid colonial (Agrostis capillaris) x creeping bentgrass (Agrostis stolonifera) mapping population previously shown to have variation in heat tolerance were exposed to either heat stress conditions of  35/30 C (day/night temperatures) or optimal temperature at 20/15 C in a controlled environment growth chamber. To confirm the genetic variations in heat tolerance between the two hybrid lines, chlorophyll content, membrane stability and overall quality ratings were taken at 0, 2, 10, and 18 days of heat stress. Leaf tissues were also sampled and frozen for gene expression analysis.  Real-time PCR (qPCR) was used to compare expression levels of candidate genes to confirm possible roles relating to heat tolerance.  Differential expression of key genes involving antioxidants, energy production, protein degradation and protein chaperone functions were found between the sensitive and tolerant line indicating the importance of these genes and their respective pathways in conferring heat tolerance.  Knowledge of important mechanisms and corresponding genes associated with heat tolerance will allow for the successful generation of candidate gene markers to be used for marker assisted selection in the creation of cultivars with improved tolerances.