New Biltmore Championship trophy honors Asheville's Helene recovery

The PGA Tour and local partners unveiled the trophy for the inaugural Biltmore Championship Asheville on Aug. 19, a design built around a piece of storm wreckage from Tropical Storm Helene. The tournament, part of the FedExCup Fall, is scheduled for Sept. 17-20 at The Cliffs at Walnut Cove, a private club in Arden, North Carolina.

Why is this the first PGA Tour event in Asheville in 84 years?

The city last hosted the tour when the Asheville Open ran as an official PGA Tour stop from 1939 to 1942, an outgrowth of the earlier Land of the Sky Open from the 1920s. World Golf Hall of Famer Ben Hogan won the final three editions beginning in 1940. Explore Asheville has since signed a $2.4 million, four-year agreement through 2029 to bring the tour back, part of a package that includes charitable programs, a tourism road map and locally made tournament products.

The Cliffs at Walnut Cove, a Jack Nicklaus design that opened in 2005 and plays to a par of 71, was selected for its capacity to host a tournament of the event's size. J.T. Poston, a Western Carolina University graduate, and Jacob Bridgeman, a Clemson alum from South Carolina, are both confirmed for the field after winning on tour this season.

What is the trophy made of?

The handcrafted Championship Trophy weighs 8 pounds, 6 of them silver, with a gold stem and nameplate. Architectural lines and lion heads reference Biltmore House, while the cup is engraved with the mountain ridgeline running from Mount Pisgah to Mount Mitchell and flowering dogwood blossoms, North Carolina's state flower. The trophy was created by Avermore founder Aubrey Vanderbilt Cecil Baliles, a great-great-granddaughter of Biltmore Estate founders George and Edith Vanderbilt, in partnership with Biltmore, Explore Asheville and Marthaler Jewelers.

The trophy's base was assembled by the Biltmore Carpenter team from a Black Walnut tree felled on the estate grounds during Tropical Storm Helene in the fall of 2024, the storm that devastated Western North Carolina.

A trophy built from a tree the storm knocked down turns wreckage into something a champion will lift every year.

What is the tournament's expected economic impact?

Explore Asheville projects $15 million to $30 million in economic impact over the four-year contract, with more than 10,000 fans expected daily and roughly 2,000 of them from out of state. The Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority estimates the region's booked events and conferences, including the tournament, will generate $75 million in direct local spending, part of the broader recovery effort since Helene.

The tournament's charitable arm, Birdies for Charity, had close to 50 nonprofits registered as of Aug. 19, with donations going directly to participating organizations. A separate community grant program will award four Western North Carolina nonprofits $10,000 each.