Barstool Sports, Ferris State establish scholarship fund in honor of late Cody 'Beef' Franke
Nick Stavas- Barstool Sports and Ferris State University have created a scholarship in memory of the late Cody "Beef" Franke.
- Franke, a PGA teaching professional and star of Barstool's "Foreplay" golf show, died in October from a sudden medical emergency.
- The scholarship will provide financial aid to students in Ferris State's PGA Management Program, which Franke attended.
Barstool Sports and Ferris State University are teaming up to honor the legacy of the late Cody "Beef" Franke.
Fore Play, Barstool's golf show, announced on social media Friday it established a scholarship in Franke's name with the goal of providing financial assistance to students in Ferris State's renowned PGA Management Program.
"Beef loved his time at Ferris State. [He] talked about it all the time," wrote Barstool's Sam "Riggs" Bozoian in an X post Friday morning. "We've worked with the university and Cody's family to setup the Cody 'Beef' Franke Scholarship Fund which will help put kids through the PGA Management Program for decades to come. His family will be actively involved in the endowment, selecting recipients and staying close to the program Beef loved so much."
Franke — a PGA teaching professional who joined Fore Play in January and quickly became a star of the online golf community with his "common man" approach to instruction content — died after suffering a sudden medical emergency in late October. He was 31.
Thousands upon thousands of golf fans eulogized "Beef" upon his passing, many writing of his beaming presence and kind nature that made everyone feel welcome. Another wave of those eulogies came Thursday when it was revealed that Franke's team had won the Internet Invitational, a YouTube golf tournament in which teams of three influencers competed for $1 million.
The event was played in August and released in six parts. Thursday night's finale saw Franke, along with Brad Dalke and Barstool's Francis Ellis, emerge victorious and claim the cash prize. A clip that went viral showed Franke telling Robby Berger, more commonly known as "Bob Does Sports," that if he won, he'd donate some of the money to charity and use the rest to pay off his parents' house.
In 1975, the golf management program at Ferris State — located in Big Rapids, Michigan — became the first to be sanctioned by the PGA. Today, it is one of 18 such programs. Anyone interested in making a gift to the Cody "Beef" Franke Scholarship Fund can head to Ferris State's donation page.