Tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea Schreb.) is a cool season perennial forage grass. Persistence, yield, and quality are severely affected by drought stress during the hot-dry summers in the southern Great Plains. The objective of this study was to evaluate and identify genotypes with contrasting drought tolerance for genomic studies and develop mapping populations. Initially, 1000 genotypes of a tall fescue population were evaluated for relative water content (RWC), osmotic potential (OP) and chlorophyll content. The genotypes differed for RWC (33.7-97.3%, mean 79.7%) and had an almost five fold difference for OP (-0.5 to -2.4 MPa, mean -1.2 MPa). Fifty genotypes with contrasting levels of performance for RWC, OP and chlorophyll content were identified. Selected genotypes were reevaluated in greenhouse and under field experiments. No significant correlation was found between RWC and OP in the greenhouse experiment but a significant negative correlation (r=-0.36 P= 0.0154) was found under field conditions. Genotypes with consistently high (NFTD400, NFTD348) and low (NFTD279, NFTD947) drought tolerance based on RWC and OP under both field and greenhouse conditions were identified and used for the construction of mapping populations. Preliminary genotyping and phenotying data of the mapping population (NFTD400 × NFTD279) planted in the field and greenhouse will be presented.