When the PGA Tour returns to Asheville next fall for the first time in more than 80 years, the Blue Ridge Mountains will find themselves on golf’s map during one of the Tour’s most consequential stretches.
The Biltmore Championship in Asheville will be held Sept. 17–20 at The Cliffs at Walnut Cove. A four-year agreement between the PGA Tour, Biltmore Estate and Explore Asheville has attracted a FedExCup Fall event at a point in the schedule where players compete to retain Tour cards, secure exemptions and qualify for the significant tournaments in the following year.
“We look forward to building a partnership that spotlights the strength and beauty of the area and its community,” says Tyler Dennis, the PGA Tour’s chief competitions officer.
The late-September placement is strategic. Under the tour’s current format, the top 70 players from the FedExCup regular season qualify for the playoffs, then the top 50 advance to the BMW Championship, and the top 30 reach the season-ending Tour Championship, which is held in late August. Players ranked from about 70th to 150th then use the FedExCup Fall events to improve or secure status and to earn pathways into the following season’s so-called “Signature Events.”
Biltmore Championship will be a proving ground for rising players, though it may not attract the tour’s top performers. Many tend to take breaks in the fall after a season that runs from January to August.
Tour executives have spent the past two years rethinking the autumn schedule, seeking destinations that offer strong tourism appeal, elite golf facilities and the infrastructure to host a televised event. Once viewed as a low-profile stretch, the seven-event FedEx Cup Fall gives those outside the top tier of the FedEx Cup standings a chance to play their way into better rankings and additional starts the following year.
The Asheville tournament purse is expected to be in the $8 million to $9 million range, similar to other FedExCup Fall events, according to industry sources. That doesn’t match the $20 million purses of “Signature Events” such as Charlotte’s Truist Championship, which is set for May 7-10. But it should attract a competitive field of motivated players.
Placing an event in Asheville also showcases one of North Carolina’s most desirable destinations. Television coverage will include Golf Channel, PGA TOUR LIVE on ESPN+, and SiriusXM, showcasing the region for a global audience.
The announcement was made about a year after Tropical Storm Helene brought historic flooding and landslides to western North Carolina. Local leaders frame the event as an economic catalyst and a civic point of pride. Visitor spending in Buncombe County declined more than 10% in 2024 to $2.65 billion, which officials blamed mostly on Hurricane Helene’s impact.
“Bringing a world-class golf tournament to the mountains of North Carolina creates an opportunity to make a positive, enduring impact on our community and economy,” said Mark Hemphill, Biltmore’s chief marketing officer.
Explore Asheville president and CEO Vic Isley added that the event is expected to draw more than 100 players, thousands of spectators, and generate millions of dollars for area businesses, along with a charitable impact.
The Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority, which runs Explore Asheville, has an annual budget of about $26 million, the largest in North Carolina. Laws require that two-thirds of the money goes for promotion and one-third for capital projects. Funding comes from a 6% occupancy tax paid by overnight visitors in Buncombe. An 11-member volunteer board oversees the group.
The Cliffs at Walnut Cove development is in Arden, just south of Asheville. The 7,167-yard, par-72 course was designed by Jack Nicklaus and opened in 2005 in the foothills of Pisgah National Forest. It’s one of seven private communities in The Cliffs portfolio, owned since 2019 by the Charlotte-based South Street Partners investment firm.
Asheville’s connection to professional golf dates back more than a century. The Asheville Open launched in the early 1920s, and the city’s Land of the Sky Open appeared on the PGA Tour schedule from 1939-42. Ben Hogan won the final three editions, including his first individual Tour title in 1940.
With the Biltmore Championship, North Carolina becomes the fourth state, with California, Texas and Florida, to host three annual PGA Tour stops. In addition to the Truist, the Wyndham Championship is planned for Aug. 6-9 at Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro.
Also, the PGA Tour has a “second headquarters” in Pinehurst, where a series of major men’s and women’s tournaments are planned over the next decade.
Aligning with Biltmore, which is America’s largest privately owned home and a global tourism attraction, lends the event credibility and regional resonance. The home is owned by the descendants of George Vanderbilt, who opened his residence in 1895. The Biltmore Company operates the estate, along with other hotels and real estate holdings in Asheville, and is led by Bill Cecil Jr., a great-grandson of George Vanderbilt.■
-Brad King is a Winston-Salem-based writer