Today in SA sports history: January 31

1966 — Local golfer Papwa Sewgolum beats Gary Player, the overnight leader, and Harold Henning by one shot to win his second Natal Open at the Durban Country Club. He won the title two years earlier, when he had to receive the trophy in the rain because he wasn’t allowed into the club house.

1982 — The top three finishers in the Flight Marathon in Benoni hand back their prize money saying it was too little. Zimbabwean Patrick Nhauro, who competed at the 1984 Olympics, was awarded R80 in bonus bonds while runner-up Mark Plaatjies and third-placed Hoseah Tjale were given R50 each. “It’s an insult,” national champion Plaatjies said. “The going price for a win in a standard marathon is normally R200 or R250 ... I have no use for a bonus bond anyway. We work hard to achieve our standards. This event was sponsored, there were over 600 runners here and each one was charged a R4 entry fee — where does all that money go to? We’ve been used by the organisers. After all they get publicity from our efforts in their race.”..