Neil makes some very good points and his list is excellent. Its funny that for an industry so innovative in some ways is so stuck in its ways. As I looked at the golf course photos Grant posted I was interested to see the predictions made about the maintenance budget. There is no doubt the law of diminishing returns exists in golf course budgets. Our maintenance budget is just short of $500k. If I was told tomorrow it could be double I would probably ask for $100K and put the rest in the bank.
Our operation is efficient and I think we produce a pretty damn good product. Many of the ways in which we save money are, in my opinion, simply the way a golf course should be maintained. Manicured roughs; who the hell wants to play from thick rough? Is there a golfer anywhere who does? How about growing the right grass? The right grass is different in all parts of the country but if yours turf's ability to sustain itself is less than its need to be sustained by chemicals than its probably the wrong grass for the climate.