I disagree with the idea that sand topdressing is only possible for high-end courses. I think it's all about priorities. The clientele at most lower budget places probably won't bitch about the lack of firm turf. They are more likely to gripe about slow greens, bad lies in bunkers, and rough that's too thick, so that's where those places choose spend their dollars. I work at a higher-end facility on CO Rocky Mountain clay, which drains quite poorly, and I believe our property doesn't do NEAR enough topdressing on fairways, tees, and approaches. Greens get an appropriate amount. My philosophy on great greenskeeping can be summarized by the 4 T's. Topdress, topdress, topdress and topdress.
Another issue is irrigation. A higher end facility has the manpower to do a lot of supplemental hand watering, while a lower budget facility might not. Therefore the higher end property can irrigate sparingly and hit the persistently dry areas with hoses, while a lower budget facility usually has to blast out enough water so that swaths of the course don't die. Of course this means that some areas will be gooey because uniform distribution of irrigation water is an impossibility.