For the record, I agree, AG, that there are other reasons for this obsession with chlorophyll. Like Pasatiempo we have to produce the lush, green look when we are able, even though our sand-based course plays its best as f&f. It's frustrating and beyond logic to accommodate these golfers and their favored style of golf, but we do it to stay afloat. As the seasons change, we get away with other (and better) conditions. We just can't do in the prime time of summer when the days are hot and the grass will brown without daily irrigation. You are absolutely correct, the golfers will see this as neglect and take their money elsewhere. We've been successful at cutting back the water (we have more than we can use, at least for now) and keeping the course on the edge because we've killed far more turf from overwatering than the alternative.
Kalen, my guess is the Pasatiempo members are much more sympathetic to the water situation than the visitor play. I also guess that visitor play is an important part of their business model. I don't know, of course, but we have certainly seen what happens to our public play when our course browns out during the summer. Our course might be playing beautifully (for us), but the rumors about conditioning spreads rapidly and the result is lost revenue and an open tee sheet. Meanwhile, our competitors, who are pouring on the water and fertilizer, growing their unplayable roughs, and essentially growing grass as if it were a crop, are getting the play. Live, learn, adapt.