Sounds like the blade installation might be the trick, especially given the unevenness mentioned. I flipped the blade on a Husqvarna I sued at our last house for detail mowing and had some similar results. On the general topic, I've had good success with mulch mowing over the years. But our present property is reasonably large (over 3 acres). Since it takes about 3.5 hours on the tractor to do the basic mowing (not to mention more time for detailed push mowing, string trimming and edging...yeesh) it isn't practical to mow it more than once a week in total, maybe hitting the longer areas twice a week if time allows. So I have run into occasions where the amount of grass laying after mowing is unacceptable (and unhealthy!). And yes, I do try to avoid cutting more than one-third of the blade height. In those cases, I use a lawn sweeper to pick up the clippings and use them in a rather large compost area I have going. The sweeper (I got Craftsman's version of the Agri-Fab Smart-Sweep) was about a third of the cost of the JD power bagger for my tractor, and is simple, easy and quick to use. It also leaves a gorgeous striping effect which I enjoy. There are plenty of small push-type lawn sweepers available that you might consider after checking into the blade situation and other suggestions received here. I like the idea of returning those nutrients to the soil as much as possible, but also recognize the realities of mowing, especially during a relative wet spell that we've had in the east this year so far. I've used the sweeper probably every other mowing until this week when the rainfall was more moderate and the grass simply hasn't grown as much. My 80% fescue lawn looks great and healthy. Mowing long (3.5 inches), proper fertilizing after a soil test, judicious use of Weed-B-Gone, mulch mowing and occasional sweeping have really done the trick for my 3 year old lawn. Oh, that, and relatively moderate weather the last two years!

That sounds like a good candidate for an elite KBG lawn. If you google "Kentucky Bluegrass Seed Selections Michigan" (without the quotes) you should be able to find some good blends for Michigan. Site prep--I would assume it has been graded by the builder. If not, get it graded by a pro. That's not something you want to risk getting a little wrong. If it is bare dirt, I'd just rough the surface a little before spreading the seed. Once you have the seed down, water three times a day for 5-10 minutes for 3 or 4 weeks, then gradually cut back until you're watering once a week, watering long enough to apply an inch of water. Somebody has the watering schedule broken down better than I do and will probably post it. Once it's growing well, the main things to do are water and mow correctly. After that comes fertilizing. Water deeply and infrequently. Mow at 3-4 inches. Give it 3-4 lbs of actual N per year, 1 lb at a time. The most important time to fertilize it is in the fall. If you're using synthetic fertilizers, use one in the early fall, after the heat of summer has passed and one later, after the top growth has stopped, but while the grass is still green. If you're using organic fertilizers, the timing of the last one is trickier, because it has to go down about three weeks before the soil temperature drops below 40 and that's impossible to know in advance, so you just try to time it as well as you can. If you're using organic fertilizers, you can fertilize in the summer, but if you're using synthetic fertilizers, you should not fertilize in the heat of the summer because it can stress the grass.

Is this KBG grass? No need to do anything if so as it spreads quickly. Otherwise maybe wait till fall to spot seed as needed. Could just be some stray animal pee. Your photos, while great in the shade, are still a good 12" too far away. You need to get maybe 4" away from the blades at the edge of the brown spot. Having said that, I copied and enlarged your image. I see some yellowing from the tip down about a half inch on several of the blades at the border, but nothing like pics of fungus I've seen online (please be aware I don't know much about fungus ID). Most of the grass just beyond the edge of the brown patch looks very healthy with no sign of fungus as much as my untrained eye from too far away can tell, so maybe it is an isolated incident. I would just keep an eye on it, but you seriously need to do something about your watering schedule.

@gle2011: I think shallow is relative. Some grasses have roots 2 and 3 ft deep. If you mow your KBG at 4" the roots will be about 4". If you mow it at 2" your roots will be about 2". I think the idea is to maximize the root depth by mowing high and encouraging the roots to reach down where the water is, not curl up and form a thatch mat while looking for shallow water. I think your site is vague about how dry the surface might become before needing more water. A lot of us have looked around and see our neighbors watering every day, doing everything wrong, yet having none of that brown straw mixed in with the green blades. If the search feature of this forum weren't so pathetic, I might be able to find my post on this subject. If I recall correctly, morpheus said that you might have to give up a little green in the summer heat but you gain resistance to many other problems. Personally, I have yet to see one of these neighbors' lawns crash and burn due to poor watering. On the other hand, I lost a few patches to fungus while doing everything "right"! I'm going to water an inch once a week whether it needs it or not next season to observe any difference.