Frances Sempek

Frances (Galos) Sempek was the winner of the first two Greater Omaha Women’s Golf Association’s city titles and lost a third by one shot to Nebraska Golf Hall of Famer Lucille Mann.

Frances’ golf career started in 1937 when her employer Alonso Arnold, took her to a driving range and she discovered that she was a natural for the game. After playing for only six years, she set the record for the Field CLub’s old course with a 79 in 1943. The same year, she went to the Trans-Mississippi and Women’s Western Amateurs.

Her breakthrough came in 1948 when she won the first Omaha city tournament by beatins Joan Martig. The next year, it was Betty Wranic she beat in the finals. She chose not to defend her title in 1950 because she was expecting her first child. After her runner-up finish, four more children in the next seven years clinched her career as a mother and wife, a role she pursued with equal intensity.