Hey all. Bit of a different vibe of a Stump today, but something that I felt was worth sharing.

Thanks for being part of this journey! Every open, every click, every time you even talk about The Stump. It means a lot!

For Beef.

A little bit of a long one today, but if you stay with me, I promise it’s worth it.

I’ve thought about writing this one for a few Stumps now, but every time I start, I don’t really know what to write and how to write it.

In the evolving world of sports, it’s not just professional leagues anymore. We’ve got minor leagues, rec leagues, content creators, everything you can imagine. Social media has given a platform to so many cool creators to share a little piece of what they love.

The sport that has maybe seen the most growth in the content space is Golf. There are a number of YouTube channels with over 1 million subscribers, and hundreds of videos with hundreds of thousands of views. We’ve gotten the chance to see many different characters over the last few years. Many people say that YouTube golf has become more entertaining than pro golf, and I can’t say that I disagree.

It’s a lot of fun to watch.

This popularity culminated in a tournament: The Internet Invitational.

This was a tournament hosted by media company Barstool as well as the YouTube Channel Bob Does Sports. The two mega forces in the content space came together and said they would make a tournament, with 48 golf content creators, with a grand prize of $1,000,000.

This was to be the biggest tournament ever for YouTube golf. The participants weren’t Joe Shmoe’s either. There were a lot of VERY good golfers. We’re talking a guy who played in the Masters, some with wins in Pro Golf events, many former collegiate golfers, and just a bunch of overall great golfers.

Alright, so there’s the back story of the event. Think Super Bowl, Oscars, World Cup, but for YouTube golf. The biggest event of all time.

Barstool’s golf channel, Foreplay, is one of the big groups on YouTube. In January of this year, they added a member.

They added Cody Franke, widely known as Beef!

Beef was a PGA Golf Professional at Thornberry Creek Country Club in Hobart, Wisconsin, before joining Foreplay. He had gained a following on social media by posting short clips giving the average golfer tips. Little things like how to chip from different areas, bunker shots, putting, really anything golf-related.

A platform such as Barstool gave him the chance to be in front of the camera in videos that would get hundreds of thousands of views. He became a sensation.

Everything he did exuded class. He would take off his cap anytime he shook somebody’s hand. No matter what. Here’s a clip of it: CLIP.

It’s impossible to be in the content game and be liked by everyone. Beef was the anomaly.

He graduated from Ferris State University from the PGA Golf Management Program. Very few schools in the country have a program like this, but Beef was golf through and through, and he said that’s what I’m doing.

The Internet Invitational had 48 spots. Beef was given 1 of the 48. It was a draft-style event, and he was one of the later picks of the draft. Beef wasn’t going to win the event, but he was going to be a fan favorite for sure.

Because the tournament was being released on YouTube, it was recorded in advance and was set to be released weeks later. It was filmed in late August and ended up being released through 6 episodes, the first set to come out on October 27th.

On the morning of the 27th, the Foreplay crew announced via social media that Beef had passed away at the age of 31 while on a trip in the Dominican Republic.

Heartbreaking news on what was supposed to be a great day for YouTube golf.

The release of Episode 1 was pushed 24 hours, and it was to be in memory of Beef.

Getting out of timeline story mode for a sec, and just talking about me personally, when I saw the news on social media, it shook me. I’d been watching Beef vids for a while, and had even watched a vid with him the day before. Seeing the tributes and messages…man.

Episode 1 of the Invitational was released the next day. Teams were drafted. 12 2 on 2 matchups were created. One was selected to tee off first. A tee was flipped to determine which of the pairs would go first. And the pair decided who would hit the first-ever shot at the Internet Invitational. All of this….

And it led to the first tee shot ever being hit by Beef. Unreal.

If the story ended there, it would already be poetic, but what came next was something poetry couldn’t even explain.

The way the tournament worked, each round cut the field in half. 48 went to 24, which went to 12, which went to 6, which led to 3 winners splitting $1,000,000.

These episodes were released twice a week over the last three weeks.

When 48 went to 24. Beef was part of the 24. When 24 went to 12. Beef was part of the 12.

When 12 went to 6. Beef was part of the 6.

Beef was in the final 3v3 match for everything.

When it got down to it, Beef was asked what he would do with the money if he won. This was his answer: VIDEO (go to 13:42 in this video to see his answer).

If you’ve made it this far, it’s a must-watch, click it and then come back.

That right there tells you everything you need to know about the guy. Salt of the earth type of guy.

The 18-hole golf match came down to the very last hole. After the other team hit it into the water, Beef’s team just needed to keep the ball in play and get it close to the hole. It was Beef who took that shot. He succeeded. That ended up being the very last shot of the tournament. Beef’s team won. Beef won. He hit the very first shot of the tournament. He hit the very last shot of the tournament. And he won.

Last clip that has to be watched. Same video. Different time stamp. VIDEO (go to 1:52:50).

Truly some of the most moving 2 minutes of video I’ve seen in a long, long, time. The genuine smile on every face as they hug him.

I know this was a bit of a long one today, so thanks for bearing with me, but just felt like this had to be shared.

To honor Beef’s legacy, the Cody “Beef” Franke Scholarship has been created at Ferris State University to give to the program that Beef loved more than anything.

Yesterday, I think I got slightly frustrated or even mad at maybe 3 different little things. Little things.

Not big things. Little things.

I’m sitting here writing this about Beef, and asking myself what the hell I’m doing getting made at the little things.

I never met him. I wish I did. But thank you, Beef. Thank you for putting on a Masterclass on what it was like to live life with class, kindness, and respectfulness.

If the world had more Beefs, it would be an awesome place!

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