Lakeโฃ Villa’s Codyโข ‘beef’ Franke, Barstool Sports Golf Influencer, Dies at 31
LAKE VILLA, IL – Cody “Beef” Franke, a Lake โvilla native who rose to prominence as a popular golf influencer with barstool Sports, has died unexpectedlyโ at the age of 31.Franke passed away over the weekend while attending a wedding in the โDominican republic, according to colleagues.
Franke,a former golf professional,built a dedicated following by offering accessible golfing advice to amateur players. He joined Barstool Sports’ “ForePlay” golf coverage after being contactedโฃ by founder Dave Portnoy last year and was later named โHead Golfโค Professional for the podcast.
“Barstool lost a member of our familyโฃ this weekend. Just โฃtragic news,” Portnoy said in a postโ on X, formerly โTwitter. “You will never find a nicer more genuine person than Beef.just another cruel reminder that tomorrow is never promised and to live each day to its fullest.”
Prior to his work with Barstool, Franke was a golf professional in California and at Thornberry Creek โat Oneida, Wisconsin, after completing the PGA Golf โManagement programโ atโ ferris State University in Michigan.โ He began creating viral training โvideos while working at Desert Willow in California, which ultimately caughtโ the attention of Portnoy and โothers.
franke recently participatedโค in Barstool Sports’ โค”Influencer Invitational,” a tournament featuringโ prominentโ online โฃgolf โpersonalities including Rick Sheils, Robby Berger from “Bob Does Sports,” and Paige spirinac. A tributeโ to Franke and his contributions to “foreplay” and Barstool was included at theโ beginning of the event’s YouTube coverage.
Details regarding Franke’s cause of deathโ and funeral arrangements have not yet been released.