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Cody Franke has died at the age of 31. The golf influencer known as "Beef" died over the weekend in the Dominican Republic. Cody hosted a popular golf podcast, Fore Play, produced by Barstool Sports alongside Trent Ryan, Samuel Riggs, and Frankie Borrelli. Cody's death was confirmed on Monday, October 27 after the podcast shared to X: "We are beyond devastated to announce that our good friend and cherished Barstool Sports colleague, Cody 'Beef' Franke, passed away from a sudden medical issue over the weekend." The founder of Barstool Sports, Dave Portnoy, shared a tribute to Cody as well. He wrote to X: "Barstool lost a member of our family this weekend. Just tragic news. You will never find a nicer, more genuine person than Beef. It's hard to even process it right now. Just another cruel reminder that tomorrow is never promised and to live each day to its fullest. #Ripbeef." According to the Barstool host Dan "Big Cat" Katz, Cody was at a wedding when the medical episode took place. In a tearful podcast episode released on Tuesday, October 28, Cody's fellow hosts said: "It's been the worst day in the history of what we've been doing here." The hosts wanted to speak to their listeners and "talk about" their friend. Who was Cody Franke? Cody was born on May 23, 1994, and grew up in Chicago playing golf. He continued playing the sport in college where he earned a degree in the PGA Golf Management program at Ferris State University. Cody's brother, Craig Franke, also works in golf. According to PGA, he worked for almost a decade as a PGA of America Golf Professional in California and Wisconsin. While working as a golf professional, he started posting on social media, catching the eye of Barstool. Earlier this year, Cody became a host of Fore Play. But he initially thought the offer wasn't real. When Dave Portnoy asked him to become the Head Golf Professional for the Fore Play podcast, he told PGA: "I originally thought it was a fake email." After joining Barstool, Cody became a certified influencer. His Instagram page grew from just 1,200 followers to 45,000 followers. Tributes to Cody His fellow Fore Play hosts were not the only ones to memorialize him after his death. Fans of the podcast flooded recent posts with heartfelt memories of Cody. One person wrote: "This is absolutely devastating. What an incredible human. Nicest guy I've ever met." Another person wrote: "I got [to] meet him at [an] event in Chicago this year. What a gentleman and welcoming guy." His podcast hosts, Trent, Samuel, and Frankie, told listeners in the episode released on October 28: "We're gonna keep things going." They explained that there were a few videos yet to be published starring Cody. "We're going to post those videos," they explained. "We spoke with [Cody's] family. They want people to see what he did for a living and how much he enjoyed it and how much joy he brought to other people."
