What was not so predictable is the harmonious way in which, during the 1990s, environmental groups and the golf industry have joined forces in efforts to reduce golf-related pollution and overconsumption.  Examples of constructive partnerships:

• In 1993 the North Carolina Coastal Federation (NCCF) joined forces with the North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service and the University of North Carolina at Wilmington to consider golf course development in the light of sensitive coastal ecology.  This spring the same group convened to raise the key question: ``Is Golfing Greener?"   The answer: a sometimes guarded but consistently stated yes (See Sayings, p. 2).  The proceedings of the 1998 symposium can be ordered from NCCF.
• The United States Golf Association (USGA) supports the Golf & the Environment project, coordinated by the Center for Resource Management in Salt Lake City.  Launched in 1995, the coalition has developed a set of ``Environmental Principles for Golf Courses in the United States," and distributes them in a booklet and on a video.  Currently the principles are being tested in demonstration projects at two courses.  One of them is the Widow's Walk course in Scituate, Mass.
• In 1991 a Selkirk, New York group called Audubon International launched an industry-supported program to help golf course managers with wildlife management and other aspects of environmental planning, and certify successful efforts.  More than 100 U.S. courses have received full certification.
• In Washington, D.C., the National Fish & Wildlife Federation and the Green Section at the USGA have launched the Wildlife Links program to help golf course designers and managers ``promote the wildlife on their golf facilities, while still providing quality playing conditions."