Well, he says you'll have to do "something" ... not necessarily something this full-scale. But in the desert, for a high-end place that does a lot of rounds and wants to maintain a high end image, yeah, this is probably not terrible out of line.
I played Saguaro on Tuesday, to get a round end before they closed for the summer. Course was great as usual, though it was obvious they haven't been tending to the greens as much as usual, why would they since they are shutting the course down Monday, I guess. Still played fine, just a bit shaggy, bit bumpy. I was in two bunkers, one fairway and one greenside. Very frankly, both were more like gravel than sand. And I say that as someone who wants bunkers to be hazards and wants them to reflect local character. They were playable, but they were not sandy. Whether that is inevitable for a course after 12 years in Arizona or whether it's reflective of some failure in maintenance or constructions, I certainly cannot say.
But I do think someone from the east coast who comes here in February and pays over $200 to play the top rated public course in Arizona would have a legit gripe with the condition of those bunkers given the rate the course charges in the winter.