Turfgrass systems are constantly challenged by biotic and abiotic stresses that affect their growth and function. During the growing season, periods of drought and heat are important abiotic stresses that impact overall turfgrass health and susceptibility to pests such as diseases and weed infestation. Efforts to improve abiotic stress resistance have mainly relied on basic agronomic practices and use of adapted cultivars or species. In recent years, an additional tool to help enhance plant health is through the application of plant health activators. Although these compounds were first developed to primarily protect against biotic stresses (e.g. diseases), limited evidence suggests that some priming compounds may also enhance turfgrass function when exposed to heat and drought stresses. Plant health activators are used alone or mixed with other products to enhance plant health, in an attempt to reduce pesticide usage amid environmental concerns. A common Plant health activator used in turfgrass management is acibenzolar-S-methyl (ASM) which activates the systemic acquired resistance (SAR) pathway. However, little is known about the physiological costs and benefits that may be associated with the continuous activation of these resistance pathways, and how they may affect abiotic stress resistance. Creeping bentgrass was selected because it is the most widely utilized species for fine turf on golf course greens and fairways in northern climates, and the species is generally considered susceptible to summer stress. In this study the drought tolerance of creeping bentgrass was found to be improved with the application of ASM. Under controlled environment conditions, treatment with ASM resulted in plants with improved turf quality and overall health. This improvement was dependent on cultivar, specifically the stress susceptible cultivar showed a greater response to treatment with ASM in measured visual and physiological symptoms. Often, in field conditions ASM is applied with a fungicide to help control disease and improve plant health. In this study no differences were seen between the fungicide alone or in combination with ASM. Further metabolic analysis showed that treatment with ASM resulted in large change in the accumulation and depletion of a variety compounds such as amino acid derivatives, carboxylic acids, and phenylpropanoids. Creeping bentgrass grown under low nitrogen conditions showed a decline in turf quality and plant health, however the application of ASM helped plants maintain a higher turf quality in both optimal and high temperature treatments. Additionally, in both controlled environment and field conditions nitrogen status did not negatively affect the ability of creeping bentgrass to accumulate compounds which were previously found to accumulate. The results of these studies provide a better understanding of how plant health activators impact abiotic stress tolerance and help to provide a better understanding of how these products can be effectively integrated with current management practices.