Nicklaus designed Cliffs at Walnut Cove
Cliffs at Walnut Cove – Nicklaus Design
The PGA Tour announced on Monday that it is returning to the Asheville, North Carolina area for the first time in more than 80 years with a new FedEx Cup fall event, the Biltmore Championship.
The event will have co-title sponsors with both the Biltmore Estate and Explore Asheville signing a four-year agreement. When the tournament takes place September 17-20, 2026, it will be the first time a PGA Tour event has been played in the area since 1942.
“We are honored to partner with Biltmore Estate and Explore Asheville on this exciting new event and look forward to building a partnership that spotlights the strength and beauty of the area and its community,” said Tyler Dennis, PGA Tour Chief Competitions Officer in a press release.
PGA Tour golf has been played in the Asheville area before. The Land of Sky Open was played in Asheville from 1939-1942. Ben Hogan won his first PGA Tour event there in 1940 and went on to win the following two years as well for the three-peat.
“After more than eight decades since the Asheville Land of the Sky Open, the PGA Tour is pleased to make its return to the Blue Ridge Mountains with the Biltmore Championship in Asheville, a proud name synonymous with the region,” stated Tyler Dennis.
The event will be held at the Cliffs at Walnut Cove, a Jack Nicklaus signature designed course which opened in 2005 and is a part of The Cliffs, a luxury community in the Blue Ridge Mountains south of Asheville. The course has hosted multiple Korn Ferry Tour events and is the home course for the UNC Asheville Women’s golf team.
With the addition of the Biltmore Championship, there will now be three PGA Tour events played in North Carolina, as it joins California, Texas and Florida as the only states with at least three events. The Truist Championship is played in May near Charlotte and the Wyndham Championship is played in August in Greensboro.
The people of Asheville and western North Carolina seem eager for the event. Vic Isley, president and CEO for Explore Asheville and the Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority, said, “After more than 80 years, Explore Asheville is thrilled to team up with Biltmore to welcome the PGA TOUR back to Asheville, Buncombe County and Western North Carolina for the next four years. The PGA TOUR’s Biltmore Championship in Asheville will draw more than 100 players, thousands of spectators, millions of dollars in direct spending for area businesses, and hours of live national television coverage shining a light on the beauty of our region – all to support our creative travel and hospitality community. Importantly, we value the charity impacts that PGA TOUR events generate for host communities each year.”
With the announcement of this event, the PGA Tour’s fall schedule for 2026 will look much different than in the past. Another new event, the Good Good Championship will be played in November in Texas. Other fall events for 2026 will be played in Utah, Japan, Mexico, Bermuda and Georgia.