My interpretation: The neighbors preferred the former look - wall-to-wall grass and pine tree motif.
That seems to be a lot of it, especially the complaints about "weeds." It's really nothing more than your typical high grass (not "native" here, but whatever) plus a lot of flower plantings.
I am sure that sort of addition, as opposed to the wall-to-wall grass that was there previously, does lead to more critters of all shapes and sizes. Some of that will be regulated, I would think, as they start to control the "native" a bit more.
When the course opened, the tall grass areas were automatic lost balls--extremely thick and long. I doubt very much that's the long-term goal for those areas; I suspect it's just thick as they try to get everything established. Assuming they start to cut back, thin, and otherwise control those areas, many of the critters will again go looking for more hospitable locations.