Blog#400BC Biltmore Championship

Blog#400BC Biltmore Championship

Cliffs at Walnut Grove Ashville NC

Sept 17-2 2026 Par 71 Purse $5M

HISTORY

Ashville hosted The Ashville Open from 1939 to 1942 with Ben Hogan winning the final 3. Attendance is expected to be about 20,000 for the 4 day tournament. This is a good preview of what the Challengers Tour will look like in 2028, with established players like Cole,Finau,Grayserman,Herschel and up and coming players like Shipley,Kohles, Bridgeman,James,Castillo (first Puerto Rican player since Chi Chi Rodrigas to win PR Open.

FAVORITES

Jackson Koiven #1 odds favorite to win #67FedX.

JT Poston Alumni of Western Carolina, #23FedX, 4 PGA wins, won $4M at Memorial this year.

Jacob Bridgeman Alumni of Clemson, #13FedX, 1st year and defeated Rory by 1 at Genesis.

ROUND 1

1 Max Grayserman-7 64 Only bogie on #2 then 5 birdies. 0 PGA wins 9 runner-ups.

1 Eric Cole-7 64 One bogie, 7 go birdies, 6 missed cuts in 2026.

3 Neal Shipley-6 65 Bogie free, 1st year on PGA, FedX#183,OWGR#217, 0 wins or top 10’s.

3 Ben Kohles-6 65 One bogie 6 birdies, in 2026 earned $225 KF(1 win) & $445 PGA.

9 Jacob Bridgeman-5 66 Birdies 6 of 1st 13 holes then 1 bogie 4 pars.

32 Jackson Koiven-3 68 Bogies 1st hole then 4 birdies for so/so start.

53 Ricky Castillo-2 69 2 bogies 1 DB on his back9, but 2 birdies.

Round 2

1 N Shipley-15 62 One eagle 7 birdies, 2nd bogie free RD in his 5th event #44 at 3M high finish.

2 Ben Kohles-14 63 Only bogie on #12 cost him share of lead.

3 Max Grayserman-11 67 First 2 bogies on #4&5 cost him the lead after eagle on #3.

3 Ricky Castillo-11 62 Bogie free 2 eagles 5 birdies, only missed 1 cut, PGA in 19 events.

Did not play in Masters, US Open or THE OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP.

5 Eric Cole-10 Bogies 2 of 1st 3 holes, the 4 birdies 0 bogies, but drops from #1.

6 Jacob Bridgeman-9 67 tough back9 with 2 bogies 1 DB but 3 birdies.

ROUND 3

1 Neal Shipley-21 65 Birdies 13&17 and eagles 15 to secure lead, still 0 bogies.

2 Ben Knoles-20 65 Only bogie on #13 again cost him share of lead.

3 Ricky Costillo-17 65 Six birdies on1st 10 holes then bogies on #14&16 to lose lead.

3 Eric Cole-17 64 Finishes with 6 birdies on last 8 holes to get to within 4 shot of lead.

5 Max Grayserman-16 66 On bogie 5 birdies including 17$18 but drops 2 spots.

5 Jacob Bridgeman-16 64 Birdies 1st 4 holes the bogies #7 and 3 more birdies.

7 Jackson Koiven-15 63 Bogie free 1 eagle 6 birdies, proves he is a valid Presidents Cup pick.

11 Ben James-24 65 Strong finish with 1 bogie 6 birdies last 11 holes.

32 JT Poston-11 69 Too many bogies 1st 3 RDs (5).

FINAL ROUND

1 Jacob Bridgeman-26 61 One eagle 8 birdies including 4 open last 6 holes. $900K

2 Ben James-24 61 Three birdies on last 4 holes,1 short of playoff. $545K

3 Ricky Castillo-23 65 One bogie 1 eagle 5 birdies. $295K

3 Neal Shipley-23 69 His 1st bogies (#7&9) and only 4 birdies for his worse Rd. $295K

5 JT Poston-21 60 Low RD with eagle on #3 then 9 birdies but misses on 18 for 59. $193K

5 Jackson Koivun-21 Another good RD only 3 bogies, but never in contention $193K

10 Max Grayserman-19 Three bogies in 1st 12 holes and he is out of its again. $116K

24 Eric Cole-15 73 Two bogies and 3Xbogie on 1st 4 holes for his worse RD. $38K

66 Harry Higgs-8 69 At least he made the cut but too many bogies 10. $11K

SUMMERY Great tournament with young guys playing so well. Top 5 or either 1st year or young players who have won. Also JJ Spahn won the DP BMW Championship at the Wentworth Club in England. A good week for TV Golf, despite College and NFL Football.