This is a topic that I've gotten into a lot of fights with people, but as a boy who grew up in the West, I have to say that I've always hated "desert golf" and have a personal boycott of sorts to play it, because I just don't think that the kinds of golf courses they build out there should be there. They just aren't natural. I have a similar kind of disdain for building major cities in deserts, because they are destroying natural climes and sucking every drop of water out of precious resources. But, that can't be taken back, of course.
I don't know if there is a "solution" for this today, but I applaud the efforts folks are taking, even if they do it more for monetary efforts than others. I know the article states that the golf courses only use 5% of the water, but that is still a significant number when you consider the population and the use. Nevertheless, golf courses are a powerful symbol of water waste in the desert southwest. And symbols are very powerful things.
Frankly, when looking at Las Vegas, the biggest waste of water isn't really the city, or the golf, but all the electricity that gets burned on the Strip every night. I read somewhere once that the Strip burns enough electricity every night to power a city of 30,000 for an entire year. That's sobering. No wonder the Colorado River doesn't flow all the way to the Gulf of California anymore. I could be wrong about the numbers, but it is indeed a huge drain.