A New Golf Tournament at Biltmore Is Already Cutting Checks to WNC Nonprofits

By Jon Tharp, Broker  ·  July 2, 2026

A brand new professional golf tournament in Asheville is already doing something most sporting events take years to figure out. The Biltmore Championship, a PGA Tour Champions event staged on the grounds of the Biltmore Estate, has launched a grant program that sends tournament proceeds straight to local nonprofits.

That puts a major golf event in Buncombe County to work for the community around it. The estate sits just south of downtown Asheville, a few minutes off Interstate 40 and Interstate 26, and within about an hour's drive of Franklin, Waynesville, and Hendersonville. So the reach of this thing extends well past the fairways.

What is the Biltmore Championship grant program?

The idea is simple. A tournament that draws national attention and national money to Asheville turns around and puts some of that money back into the organizations doing the everyday work here.

Grant programs tied to professional golf are common on tour, but they usually favor big-market cities. Seeing one anchored at the Biltmore, in a mountain region where nonprofits carry a heavy load, is a different kind of story. Local charities can apply for funding connected to the event, which makes the tournament a recurring source of support rather than a one weekend spectacle that packs up and leaves.

The details on application windows and eligibility will come through the tournament's official channels. If you run or support a nonprofit in the area, this is worth tracking closely.

Why does this matter for Asheville and the surrounding towns?

Western North Carolina runs on two engines, tourism and community organizations, and this event feeds both at once.

The tournament itself brings visitors into Asheville for its run, filling hotels and restaurants and giving downtown a boost during the event window. That economic bump is real and welcome. But the grant program adds a second layer that most events skip. Instead of the benefit stopping at the cash register, a slice of it flows to the groups working on youth programs, food access, health, and recovery across the region.

That last piece lands with extra weight right now. The nonprofits serving these mountains have been stretched thin since the flooding, and dependable new funding sources are exactly what many of them have been hoping for. A tournament that shows up every year with grant dollars attached becomes part of the local support system, not just a name on the sports calendar.

What does an event like this say about Asheville's momentum?

Asheville has spent years building a reputation as a place worth visiting and, increasingly, a place worth staying. A recurring PGA Tour Champions event at its most famous address adds to that picture.

Major events tend to reshape how people see a place. Someone watching the Biltmore Championship on television, seeing those mountain backdrops behind the greens, starts to form an impression of what life here might feel like. For a region that has quietly become a destination for retirees and second home buyers, that kind of national exposure does not hurt.

The Biltmore grounds give the tournament a setting that few professional stops can match. Rolling terrain and long mountain views, with one of the most recognizable estates in the country behind it. It is the kind of scenery that makes a golf broadcast look like a travel ad for Western North Carolina, which, in a sense, is exactly what it is.

How can locals get involved?

For spectators, an event this close to Asheville and this easy to reach off the interstates is a natural weekend outing once tournament dates are set. For nonprofits, the grant program is the headline, and the move now is to watch for the application details and be ready when the window opens.

Either way, the takeaway is the same. A new event chose these mountains, and rather than simply taking from the region, it built in a way to give back. That is the kind of addition that tends to stick around.

If watching a story like this unfold has you curious about what putting down roots in the Asheville area could look like, Jon Tharp is always glad to talk it through.

 

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Biltmore Championship in Asheville?

The Biltmore Championship is a professional golf tournament held on the grounds of the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina, as part of the PGA Tour Champions circuit for players age 50 and over. Beyond the competition itself, the event functions as a fundraising engine for the region. Organizers have built a charitable component into the tournament, including a grant program that channels proceeds back to local nonprofits. It brings national golf attention to Buncombe County while positioning the estate, already Asheville's best known landmark, as the centerpiece of a new annual tradition.

How can WNC nonprofits apply for a Biltmore Championship grant?

Nonprofits interested in the Biltmore Championship grant program should watch the tournament's official channels and the announcements from 828 News Now for application windows, eligibility rules, and deadlines. Most tournament grant programs of this kind prioritize organizations serving the immediate host region, which here means Asheville and the surrounding Western North Carolina counties. Groups focused on youth, health, education, and community services tend to fit these programs well. Because details can change year to year, confirm the current criteria and required documentation directly with the tournament before submitting any application materials.

Where is the Biltmore Championship played?

The tournament is played at the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, in Buncombe County. The estate sits just south of downtown Asheville, a few minutes from Interstate 40 and Interstate 26, which makes it easy to reach for spectators traveling from across Western North Carolina and upstate South Carolina. Asheville itself is roughly an hour from Franklin, Waynesville, and Hendersonville, so the event draws fans from a wide mountain region. The Biltmore grounds offer rolling terrain and mountain backdrops that give the tournament a setting unlike most stops on the professional golf calendar.

Why does a golf tournament matter to Western North Carolina?

A recurring professional event brings visitors, hotel stays, restaurant traffic, and media coverage into the region during its run, and those dollars ripple through small businesses in Asheville and nearby towns. The added grant program deepens that impact by sending proceeds directly to local charities rather than keeping the benefit purely economic. For a mountain region that leans heavily on tourism and community organizations, an event that pairs national exposure with local giving carries weight well beyond the leaderboard, especially in the years following the flooding that strained many area nonprofits.