For the first time since 1942, the PGA Tour is coming back to the mountains of western North Carolina. The inaugural Biltmore Championship tees off September 17-20, 2026, at The Cliffs at Walnut Cove near Asheville, opening the FedExCup Fall and giving one of America’s most beloved travel towns its biggest golf moment in more than eight decades. With a $5 million purse, a Jack Nicklaus mountain layout, and a field packed with Presidents Cup hopefuls, the debut is shaping up to be one of the most intriguing stops of the autumn.
What’s Happening
The Biltmore Championship is a brand-new event on the 2026 PGA Tour schedule, announced in late 2025 as part of a revamped FedExCup Fall. It marks the first time the Asheville area has hosted a PGA Tour event since 1942 — a gap of 84 years. The tournament runs Thursday through Sunday, September 17-20, at The Cliffs at Walnut Cove in Arden, just south of downtown Asheville.
The FedExCup Fall is the stretch of the season that finalizes eligibility for the following year. Players inside the top 100 in FedExCup points at the end of the fall lock up fully exempt PGA Tour cards for 2027, while those ranked 101st through 125th earn conditional status. That makes an event like the Biltmore Championship far more than a quiet post-season exhibition — for dozens of players, careers and paychecks are genuinely on the line.
The field is headlined by 16-time PGA Tour winner Justin Thomas, the highest-ranked player in the field, who is using the week as a tune-up ahead of the Presidents Cup at Medinah. He is joined by fellow U.S. Presidents Cup team members Jacob Bridgeman and Jackson Koivun. Coverage will be carried on Golf Channel, with additional streaming through PGA Tour LIVE on ESPN+.
Why It Matters
Beyond the trophy, three storylines make this debut worth watching. First, there is the history: Asheville has a rich golf heritage tied to the Donald Ross-designed courses of the region, and the return of the PGA Tour after 84 years is a genuine milestone for the area’s golf identity. Second, there is the bubble drama. Veterans such as Billy Horschel and Lucas Glover entered the fall hovering right around the top-100 cutline, meaning every made cut and every birdie carries outsized weight with fewer than a dozen events left in the season.
Third, there is the Presidents Cup subplot. With Medinah looming, the players representing the United States are searching for form and rhythm at exactly the right moment. A strong week in the North Carolina mountains could send a captain’s-pick-caliber player into the team event brimming with confidence — or expose the rust that a late-season lull can create. For a full breakdown of how the U.S. side came together, see our coverage of the 2026 Presidents Cup captain’s picks at Medinah.
The Course and the Field
The Cliffs at Walnut Cove is a private, Jack Nicklaus-designed layout that plays to roughly 7,167 yards. It sits in a valley bordering the Pisgah National Forest and the Blue Ridge Parkway, with holes routed through former farmland, streams, and stands of mountain laurel. Elevation change, cooler mountain air, and tree-lined corridors will demand precise iron play and disciplined tee shots rather than pure power — a setup that historically rewards accuracy over raw distance.
Mountain golf also introduces variables that flatland tournaments do not: swirling winds through the valleys, uneven lies, and greens that can run fast and firm in the September climate. Expect the players who control their trajectory best — keeping the ball under the wind and stopping it on elevated putting surfaces — to rise to the top of the leaderboard. If you want to understand the shot that thrives in these conditions, our guide on how to hit a stinger breaks down the low, penetrating ball flight the pros will lean on all week.
What This Means For You
You do not need a Tour card to take something home from Biltmore week. A demanding mountain course is a masterclass in course management, and the smartest players will consistently choose the fat part of the green over flag-hunting. Amateurs can borrow that mindset immediately: aim for the center of greens, respect the trouble, and let pars accumulate. When the pin is tucked and the green is running away from you, the pros lag it close rather than gamble — a habit worth stealing. Our tutorial on how to putt on fast greens is a perfect companion for watching the weekend action.
The other lesson is trajectory control. Watch how often the leaders take one more club and swing easier to flight the ball down into the wind, especially on the longer approach shots. That is a skill any weekend golfer can practice, and it starts with solid contact on the longer clubs — something our guide on how to hit long irons can help you develop. If you enjoy following a fresh event build like this one, you may also like our recent BMW PGA Championship preview.
Key Takeaways
- The inaugural Biltmore Championship runs September 17-20, 2026, at The Cliffs at Walnut Cove near Asheville — the first PGA Tour event in the area since 1942.
- It opens the FedExCup Fall, with a $5 million purse and 2027 Tour cards hanging in the balance for players near the top-100 cutline.
- Justin Thomas headlines the field, joined by Presidents Cup teammates tuning up for Medinah.
- The 7,167-yard Jack Nicklaus mountain design should reward accuracy, trajectory control, and smart course management over raw distance.
- Watch on Golf Channel and PGA Tour LIVE on ESPN+ across all four rounds.
