As Anthony mentioned, if you are open year round and need to staff the full year the numbers are much higher. I work as a golf course superintendent at a mid level golf course in the Phoenix Valley and my budget is $1.4 million. Obviously, that does not include water, just payroll and expenses. If you are a high end private club that is year round your budget will be at least 2.5 million, with quite a few over 3 million. With inflation going out of control lately, increasing your budget 5% every year isn't enough. Payroll has skyrocketed with the average hourly employee being around $20 compared to $15 just 3-4 years ago. Fertilizer got extremely expensive at the beginning of the Ukraine war as a lot of it comes from that region, but it has leveled out a bit lately.
Working at a club that closes for 3-4 months a year will help the budget number immensely.
I am all for the movement in the desert to eventually stop overseeding and embrace the paints, or new turf types that don't go off color as much. The amount of money that is spent on seed, fertilizer, repair and maintenance, chemicals to eradicate the ryegrass, water to grow it in, etc, etc. is a huge chunk of that budget every year. As long as people stop expecting every course out here to look like TPC scottsdale when they come to visit this movement will take hold. Having that extra 25 days of being open, compared to closed for overseed might tilt the scale for obsessed golf crazy communities.