After an 84-year absence, professional golf is returning to Asheville, NC.
The Biltmore Championship Asheville, part of the PGA Tour’s FedExCup Fall, will be held Sept. 17-20 at The Cliffs at Walnut Cove in Arden, NC. Tournament Week activities begin Sept. 14, with more than 100 professional golfers expected to compete.
The event marks the first PGA Tour tournament in Asheville since 1942, when the city hosted the Land of the Sky Open. Ben Hogan won the tournament in each of its final three years.
The return of professional golf also represents a significant development in Explore Asheville’s sports tourism strategy. The destination has invested millions of dollars in sports facilities throughout Buncombe County, helping attract a growing range of collegiate, amateur and professional sporting events. SoCon basketball is contracted to remain in the area through 2035, while the NAIA outdoor track and field nationals and Big South baseball were held in May and are scheduled to return in 2027.
But the Biltmore Championship Asheville represents another level of exposure for the destination.
“It’s an opportunity to be part of an economic revitalization,” says Nate Goldsnider, Event Director for the Biltmore Championship Asheville. “The impact the Tour can bring into communities is significant.”
Explore Asheville and the Biltmore Estate are co-title sponsors under a 4-year agreement with the PGA Tour that runs through 2029. The tournament is expected to generate a multimillion-dollar economic impact, and North Carolina has awarded the event a grant of up to $3.17 million through the state’s Major Events, Games, and Attractions Fund.
For the meetings and incentive market, however, the tournament offers another opportunity: A new premium sports experience that can be incorporated into group programs, corporate entertainment and incentive travel.
A PGA Tour Event = Group Experiences
Goldsnider joined the PGA Tour specifically to lead the Asheville tournament and arrived in the area in January 2026.
He sees considerable overlap between producing a Tour event and the work of a corporate event planner.
“At the end of the day, I’m an event planner too,” he says.
The scale is different, but the core responsibilities are similar: Coordinating partners and venues, managing logistics, creating an experience for attendees and delivering an event that serves a larger purpose.
For the PGA Tour, that purpose extends beyond the competition itself, providing opportunities for businesses and community leaders to gather, develop relationships and create memorable experiences.
Goldsnider says the Tour’s ability to “host and convene” is one of its most successful avenues from a partnership perspective, providing a platform for local businesses, leaders and others to come together, build relationships and create memorable personal or professional outcomes.
That has been evident in the development of the Asheville tournament’s hospitality program. Since entering the market, the tournament team has introduced premium hospitality offerings in a variety of sizes, structures and formats. Goldsnider says local interest has exceeded the team’s initial expectations, resulting in growth beyond the original hospitality and build plans.
For meeting and incentive planners, those offerings provide another way to use a major sporting event as the centerpiece of a group experience.
A tournament program could provide VIP clients or top-performing employees with access to premium hospitality, while an extended itinerary could combine the competition with Asheville’s attractions, restaurants and mountain setting. The appeal also extends beyond golf enthusiasts: The sporting event itself becomes a platform for entertainment, networking and relationship-building.
A Distinctive Setting
Set just south of downtown Asheville, The Cliffs at Walnut Cove blends championship golf and a spectacular setting.
Nestled in a valley bordering Pisgah National Forest and the Blue Ridge Parkway, the private Jack Nicklaus-designed course is ranked among the top facilities in the state and is located minutes from Asheville Regional Airport.
The September dates also offer an opportunity to pair the tournament with the beginning of fall in Asheville, taking place just ahead of peak leaf season. Color begins on the highest ridgelines along the Blue Ridge Parkway in late September, creating an opportunity for groups that extend their stay on either side of the tournament to experience a magical landscape.
For Asheville, the combination of professional golf, the Biltmore connection and the surrounding mountains provides a distinctive package for visitors and groups.
Why Asheville?
From the PGA Tour’s perspective, bringing an event to a new market requires several essential components, Goldsnider notes, including partnership and community support, along with the appropriate golf course and venue.
“You need partnership and you need support,” he says. “And you need the golf course and you need the venue.”
Once those elements are in place, the next question is why the event belongs in that particular destination.
In Asheville, the answer was clear. The return of professional golf to the mountains after more than eight decades creates a compelling story in itself, while the potential economic impact gives the event a broader role within the community.
The four-year agreement also provides an opportunity to build on the inaugural tournament rather than treating it as a one-time event.
Goldsnider describes the approach as “crawl, walk, run,” with the goal of establishing the event in its first year, determine what works and then look for ways to expand the experience and increase its impact in the years ahead.
That long-term commitment is important for the destination’s sports tourism strategy and for planners looking for new experiences in Asheville.
Sports Tourism on a Larger Stage
The growth of sports events has given destinations another avenue for attracting visitors, groups and events. Asheville has already established a foundation through its investment in sports facilities and its success in attracting collegiate and amateur competitions.
The Biltmore Championship Asheville brings that strategy to a national stage.
Tournament coverage will extend beyond the spectators at Walnut Cove, with distribution planned through the Golf Channel, PGA TOUR LIVE on ESPN+, SiriusXM and the World Feed. The resulting exposure gives Asheville an opportunity to reach golf audiences well beyond the Blue Ridge Mountains
The tournament also creates a platform for local businesses and organizations to connect with visitors and one another. Goldsnider identifies that ability to convene, build relationships and create experiences as one of the central benefits presented by the arrival of a PGA Tour event.
That may ultimately be one of the most important implications for the meetings industry.
Sports events are not simply competitions. With the right hospitality and programming, they can become experiences that bring people together, reward top performers, entertain clients and create opportunities for business.
More information: BiltmoreChampionship.com; ExploreAsheville.com
