I noticed that the grass in parts of the La Quinta course were the same the other day.
I wonder whether it's something to do with the weather. Normally we would be expecting much more rain at this time of the year but there has hardly been any, so maybe they need use their sprinklers a bit more.
Our gardener was telling me the other day that, oddly, grass always looks drier in the winter than in the summer anyway, but like you, I was shocked to see how bad it some courses are looking.
Justin