Internet Invitational opens with tribute to Cody Franke

Before anyone in the new field hit a shot that counted, Fore Play started the season with Beef.

Barstool Sports

@barstoolsports

Very emotional moment honoring Cody “Beef” Frankie to kick off the Internet Invitational

That's the right way to open it. Franke didn't just play in the first Internet Invitational. He won it. The inaugural event was filmed in August 2025 at Big Cedar Lodge in Ridgedale, Missouri, and Franke, Brad Dalke and Francis Ellis came out on top, splitting the $1 million prize 3 ways. Franke hit the putt that won it.

Then came the part nobody can make sense of. Franke died suddenly in October 2025, the day before the first season started airing. The show went on, and it was always going to be hard to watch: the episodes kept building toward a win he never got to see on screen. A year later his name is on the trophy, and Fore Play made sure the first thing anyone saw this season was him.

The tribute came with a request. Fore Play asked people to put some money behind the memory.

Fore Play

@ForePlayPod

RIP Beef ❤️ Please consider making a donation in his honor at t.co/r1H1C4TF84

It wasn't a one-off at the top of the show, either. According to the people watching, Beef runs through the whole event, and that landed with the golf internet. Annika Christy said what plenty of people were thinking.

annika christy

@kingkrabbyp

The tributes to Beef throughout @Internetinvite thus far is truly incredible. A true one of one guy getting the honor he deserves 🙏🏼 I hope they continue this forever

"I hope they continue this forever" is the right ask. The Internet Invitational is a much bigger production now than it was in year 1, with a bigger purse and a bigger field. Every season adds new faces, and plenty of the people watching will never have seen Beef play. Putting his name on the trophy means whoever wins it, this year and every year after, is chasing something he won first. RIP Beef.