Biltmore Championship Asheville: The PGA TOUR Returns to Asheville After 80 Years
Professional golf is coming back to Asheville.
On September 17, 2026, the first round of the inaugural Biltmore Championship Asheville will begin at The Cliffs at Walnut Cove in Arden, North Carolina. The tournament runs through September 20 and marks the PGA TOUR's return to Asheville for the first time in more than 80 years.
For anyone searching for information about the Biltmore Championship Asheville 2026, the tournament is part of the PGA TOUR's FedExCup Fall schedule. It carries a $5 million purse and 500 FedExCup points, and the event has a four-year agreement involving Biltmore Estate and Explore Asheville.
But here's the part I find much more interesting:
Asheville has a much older professional golf history than the new tournament suggests.
The Biltmore Championship Asheville may be new, but professional golf has been part of the Asheville story for generations.
And that's where the history gets interesting.
Asheville Golf History Goes Back More Than a Century
The connection between Asheville, Biltmore, and golf actually predates the PGA TOUR by decades.
George Washington Vanderbilt established Biltmore as a massive estate in Asheville, with Biltmore House opening in 1895. Around the same time, golf was beginning to appear on the property.
Biltmore's own historical records indicate that plans for a nine-hole golf ground were underway around 1895–1896, with the course opening around Christmas 1896.
That means golf was being played at Biltmore more than 125 years ago.
The original golf course eventually disappeared, but Asheville's relationship with the sport continued to grow.
Donald Ross Comes to Asheville
One of the most important names in Asheville golf history is Donald Ross.
If you've listened to Under Par Over Time before, you've already heard me talk about Ross and his influence on American golf course architecture.
Ross was born in Scotland, apprenticed under Old Tom Morris, and eventually became one of the most influential golf architects in the United States.
His work included some of America's most famous courses.
And he also designed the course at Biltmore Forest Country Club.
Biltmore Forest Country Club was founded in 1922, with its grand opening taking place on July 4 of that year. Cornelia Vanderbilt hit the first shot on the new golf course.
Today, the club's historic 18-hole Donald Ross course remains an important part of Asheville golf history.
The Biltmore Invitational
Biltmore Forest wasn't simply a private club.
It became a destination for competitive golf.
The Biltmore Invitational was held from 1922 through 1962, and for four decades the second Sunday in August was considered a major week for golfers in Western North Carolina.
The event attracted accomplished golfers from around the region and beyond.
North Carolina golfer Billy Joe Patton later summed up the importance of the tournament by saying:
"All the best players came to Asheville every year. It was the center of the golf world in these parts."
That's a remarkable description when you consider how Asheville is viewed in golf today.
Pinehurst gets much of the attention when people discuss North Carolina golf history.
But Asheville had its own important place in the story.
The Asheville Land of the Sky Open
Then Asheville's golf history moved onto the professional stage.
The tournament that eventually became known as the Land of the Sky Open was played in Asheville and became an official PGA TOUR event from 1939 through 1942.
And one of the greatest golfers in history became closely associated with it: Ben Hogan.
Hogan won the Asheville event three consecutive years:
1940
1941
1942
His first Asheville victory was particularly significant.
In 1940, Hogan had already won at Pinehurst and Greensboro before arriving in Asheville. He then won the Land of the Sky Open, completing an extraordinary North Carolina run.
Biltmore Forest's history notes that Hogan specifically praised the challenge and strategy of the par-four second hole, calling it one of the finest holes on the professional circuit.
So when the Biltmore Championship Asheville begins in 2026, it won't be the first time professional golfers have competed in Asheville.
Ben Hogan already has three victories here.
Then Asheville Lost the PGA TOUR
The last Asheville PGA TOUR event was played in 1942.
And then the tournament disappeared.
The timing is significant.
The United States had entered World War II, and professional golf was changing dramatically. Tournament schedules were disrupted, players entered military service, and the professional golf calendar was affected by the demands of wartime America.
The Asheville event never returned to the PGA TOUR.
That created an extraordinary gap.
The Biltmore Championship Asheville 2026
The new Biltmore Championship Asheville is scheduled for September 17–20, 2026.
The tournament will be played at The Cliffs at Walnut Cove, a private club in Arden, North Carolina, just outside Asheville. The course was designed by Jack Nicklaus and measures approximately 7,167 yards. It sits in a mountain setting near the Pisgah National Forest and Blue Ridge Parkway.
That gives the new tournament an interesting architectural connection to Asheville's past.
The old Asheville golf story includes Donald Ross.
The new PGA TOUR event comes to town on a Jack Nicklaus-designed course.
Two of the most influential names in American golf course architecture, separated by generations, are now connected through Asheville.
Why Is the Biltmore Championship Part of the FedExCup?
The Biltmore Championship Asheville isn't simply an exhibition or special event.
It is an official PGA TOUR tournament and part of the FedExCup Fall.
The 2026 event carries:
$5 million purse
500 FedExCup points
PGA TOUR status
National television coverage
A four-year agreement with Biltmore Estate and Explore Asheville
The FedExCup Fall gives players an opportunity to improve their position and secure or strengthen their status for the following PGA TOUR season.
So while Ben Hogan was competing for the Land of the Sky Open title in the 1940s, today's players arrive in Asheville competing within an entirely different professional golf system.
The Biltmore Name Comes Full Circle
There's another reason the name of this tournament matters.
Biltmore has been connected to golf in Asheville for more than a century.
There was the original golf ground at the Vanderbilt estate.
There was Biltmore Forest Country Club.
There was the Biltmore Invitational.
And now there is the Biltmore Championship Asheville.
Biltmore Estate and Explore Asheville are serving as co-title sponsors of the new PGA TOUR event under a four-year agreement.
The New Biltmore Championship Trophy
And even the trophy has a connection to Asheville.
The inaugural Biltmore Championship Asheville trophy was created by Marthaler Jewelers, a local Asheville business, in collaboration with Biltmore, Explore Asheville, Avermore, and the PGA TOUR.
The silver trophy incorporates design inspiration from Biltmore House, the Biltmore Lion, and the Blue Ridge Mountains.
But here's an especially interesting detail in the base.
The base was made from oak that had previously stood at Biltmore before falling during Hurricane Helene in 2024.
That means the first trophy for a brand-new PGA TOUR tournament is physically incorporating a piece of Asheville's recent history.
I think that's a pretty great detail.
Asheville's PGA TOUR Return Is More Than a New Tournament
When the first player tees off at The Cliffs at Walnut Cove in September, the Biltmore Championship Asheville will technically be a brand-new tournament.
But Asheville's professional golf story is anything but new.
Golf was being played at Biltmore in the nineteenth century.
Donald Ross designed Biltmore Forest.
The Biltmore Invitational brought competitive golfers to the city for four decades.
The Land of the Sky Open became an official PGA TOUR event.
And Ben Hogan won there three consecutive times.
Then professional golf disappeared from Asheville for more than 80 years.
Now it's coming back!
Listen to Episode 13 of Under Par Over Time
There's even more to the story in this week's episode, including the history of professional golf in Asheville, Ben Hogan's remarkable three-year run, Donald Ross's connection to Biltmore Forest, and how the new Biltmore Championship fits into the modern PGA TOUR.
🎙️ Listen to "The Biltmore Championship Asheville: Golf Returns to Asheville After 80 Years" wherever you get your podcasts.
Under Par Over Time is independently researched, written, and produced as part of Saraceni & Co Productions.
