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Trade In Game Changers
Becoming Barstool Beef: How Cody Franke's Swing Tips Turned Him Into a Social Media Star
By Adam Stanley
Published on
Cody Franke had a vacation booked after he was hired at Barstool Sports, but his gig hadn’t even formally begun and he had a couple of eye-popping, pinch-me moments.
Franke was recognized in both the airport in Paris – by someone from New York who was visiting their girlfriend in France – and on the streets of London as he was getting out of a cab.
“I was dumbfounded,” Franke says with a small laugh. “People know who I am.”
It wouldn't be the last time.
After almost as a decade as a PGA of America Golf Professional working at clubs in both California and Wisconsin, Franke made headlines at the end of last year with the announcement that he would be the new Head Golf Professional for the Fore Play Golf Podcast, Barstool Sports’ popular golf platform. Franke received an email from Barstool’s founder and current CEO Dave Portnoy just after Thanksgiving – “I originally thought it was a fake email” – who said that there were some members of his team who had discovered Franke’s social-media page and they liked what they saw.
Tip Tuesday:
— Barstool Beef (@BARSTOOLBEEF_) February 5, 2025
Are your eyes and set up costing you strokes?
Too far away, when you look down over the ball eyes veer right. On top of the ball too much at address, eyes lead you inside.
Have a wonderful day! @ForePlayPod pic.twitter.com/Nu03OJlx9X
“He and I see the same way about content and media – tip ideas, content that’s easy consumable instead of a 30-minute show, etc. It just turned into if I wanted to do it full time or part time,” Franke explains. “Being a PGA Member, you can’t really do something like this part time and work at a golf course. There’s just too much time being consumed. So, I made the decision to go full time.”
Franke says his personal Instagram page went from about 1,200 followers to 30,000 followers in less than a month. PGA.com caught up with Franke – known how as "Barstool Beef" – while he was in Arizona where he and the other Barstool golf personalities were shooting content at the WM Phoenix Open. Franke says PGA TOUR players were asking him for pictures. He shook hands (after removing his hat, of course) and gave swing tips and mini lessons in the merchandise tent.
If Beef meets 1000 people, he’s taking his hat off 1000 times. I’ve never seen anything like it. He took his hat off to say goodnight at the Airbnb the other day. The epitome of class @BARSTOOLBEEF_ pic.twitter.com/RT18fCXgu9
— Frankie Borrelli (@FrankieBorrelli) February 6, 2025
Folks out there were like a moth to a flame.
“I’m just a golf pro teacher. That was pretty crazy,” he adds.
Franke, whose brother Craig is also a PGA Professional working at Monroe Golf Club in Wisconsin, spent six years working in Southern California at Desert Willow Golf Resort. A Chicago native, he was hired at Thornberry Creek at Oneida in Green Bay in February 2023, his last gig before Barstool. Franke grew up playing golf, starting at about three years old alongside his brother. He played multiple sports growing up but in the state of Illinois, high school golf is played at the same time as football – so he had to make a choice.
Franke (top left) has always tried to make golf easier for players of all ages.
Franke would go on to complete the PGA Golf Management program at Ferris State University in Michigan before getting his first full-time golf gig at Desert Willow.
“Golf has always been home for me . . . it’s something I can go do. If you go to the golf course, it doesn’t really feel like work-work – I’m just at a place I’m really happy to be around. I’m home,” Franke says. “That’s what this has always been for me.”
Franke began making content for social media about a half-decade ago with the objective of connecting with guests and players at Desert Willow. Many golfers, he says, would come down to the California club from Portland, Seattle, or even Canada. His videos allowed the course to stay on the radar of all those people.
“We could get their feedback, get into their algorithm, and stay connected to them […] It helped even more when COVID was going on. It was the only connection they had to the thing they loved the most when they couldn’t travel,” Franke says. “You just want to be able to connect with the people you see most often and hopefully give them content that they enjoy.”
The swing tips only received more attention on social media at Thornberry Creek, regularly amassing hundreds of thousands of views. Clearly, his content was being enjoyed by enough golfers that one of the biggest media brands in North America has taken notice.
There will be three pillars of output going forward with Barstool, he explains.
Today’s Friday fix: Dylan from Florida.
— Barstool Beef (@BARSTOOLBEEF_) February 14, 2025
Age 10 and can crush the ball! Potential future tour winner. Let’s help him get a few more yards.
- widen the base
- super flexible, need to incorporate lower half more
- reduce shaft lean to generate better launch
Have a wonderful day! pic.twitter.com/JMG2vAnR3F
Franke will do Tip Tuesday videos (something he was doing previously), Friday Fix videos (fans can submit videos and Franke will provide a comment or two), and Swings from the ‘Stool (where Franke will comment on and help analyze swings from other Barstool personalities). His PGA pro experience and knowledge will also be a key part of two ongoing Barstool golf video series – “Jersey Jerry” and his quest to break 100, and Trent Ryan’s quest to break 85. Franke calls those kind of videos “fantastic connectors” between talent and Barstool’s massive and ever-growing audience.
While Franke has the most unique of PGA of America Golf Professional gigs, it was a bit of a no-brainer situation for him to join Barstool. He still has the opportunity to be in the golf space and with the large platform afforded to him by Barstool, he’s able to relate to even more core golfers. Franke points to how Tiger Woods only hits about 88 percent of his greens from 100 yards out. The best player in the world, he says, goes only 4-for-5 from that distance. The expectations by so many are too high. His ultimate goal is to help make the game simpler, and more fun, for everyone.
Franke joined the fun at the WM Phoenix Open with co-workers Frankie Borelli, Sam "Riggs" Bozoian, Trent Ryan and golf personality Matt Ginella.
There's no better example of that than his Instagram tagline: “common instructor for the common golfer.”
“Too many golfers have too many swing thoughts that just erode the game of golf. Where instead we just need to focus on one or two objectives and make it the easiest that way,” Franke says. “If we can connect things that average people know well to their golf game, they’re going to have a way easier time.”
"Golf has always been home for me . . . it’s something I can go do. If you go to the golf course, it doesn’t really feel like work-work – I’m just at a place I’m really happy to be around."
Cody Franke, PGA
So, whether it’s a social video clip, inside the ropes at a PGA TOUR event, or, yes, the airport in Paris, Franke is thrilled to have an opportunity to connect with even more golfers moving forward.
