When Lake Burley Griffin was finally filled in 1964, prime minister Robert Menzies could not resist a wry smile.

Speaking at the lake's inauguration, he recalled how the project had been delayed for decades, not only by Depression-era austerity and wartime distraction, but by what he called "passive or active resistance by the golfers and their committee men".

The Royal Canberra Golf Club occupied much of the Molonglo River flats earmarked for the lake, and its well-connected members were in no hurry to see their fairways submerged.

The lake was part of Walter Burley Griffin's original 1912 design for the capital. But for years, the body of water that now helps define our city was held back by a few well-connected golfers.

Eventually, reason won out. The golf course moved to Westbourne

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