What to Know Before You Visit The 102nd Carolinas Open 

Championship golf returns to the Blue Ridge in July, when the 102nd Carolinas Open plays out over four days, July 13 to 16, on the Gary Player Signature course at Mountain Park. The course winds through 2,000 protected acres along the North Saluda River, with walkable routing that allows unhurried viewing from the first tee to the final green. Watching it is the simple part. The drive into Marietta, where to stay, and the time between rounds, those require a little forethought, and this guide offers it.

Getting to The Cliffs at Mountain Park 

The Cliffs at Mountain Park is located in Marietta, South Carolina, in the Blue Ridge foothills of northern Greenville County. Two airports serve the area: Asheville Regional Airport (AVL), about 35 minutes away, and Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport (GSP), about 40 minutes away.

Greenville is the closest major city to the tournament, roughly 25 minutes south, and offers a wide range of lodging, dining, and conveniences for the week. For something closer to the course, Travelers Rest is a better base – a small town just north of Greenville on the route towards Mountain Park, which puts you within a short drive of the first tee each morning without the longer commute from downtown. 

If you are attending, plan to allow extra time on tournament mornings, when arrivals tend to gather ahead of the first groups.

Tickets and Admission 

The Carolinas Open is a championship of the Carolinas PGA, the regional section of the PGA of America, rather than a PGA TOUR stop. An event at this level is run differently from a televised major, and the spectator arrangements, including admission, parking, and daily access, are set by the organizers closer to the tournament.

For confirmed details, the official Carolinas Open event page is the place to check. That page carries the schedule, any admission or registration requirements, and on-site logistics as they are finalized. Worth bookmarking ahead of July so you are planning based on current information rather than guesswork. 

Four Days of Play, July 13 to 16 

The Carolinas Open runs as a four-day championship bringing together professionals and leading amateurs from across the region, with each round contributing to the PGA REACH Charity Pro-Am that anchors the 2026 event. For spectators, the rhythm builds across the week, early rounds sorting the field and the closing day deciding it.

Mountain Park rewards walking on foot. The routing is walkable with little climbing, so following a group from tee to green is easy throughout the afternoon. The closing stretch is the one to plan around: “The Joust,” the four-hole finish where Gary Player’s design turns risk and reward into the kind of late swing that settles tournaments. Tee times and pairings are posted closer to the event, so it is worth checking the schedule before you set out each day.

Where to Stay 

Two bases make sense for the week, depending on what you want from the hours off the course. Downtown Greenville, about 25 minutes away, offers the widest range of lodging and dining options, with a walkable Main Street as the trade-off for a slightly longer morning drive. Travelers Rest, the smaller town on the route north toward Marietta, sits closer to the course and trades that range for proximity and a quieter pace.

In downtown Greenville, the Westin Poinsett anchors Main Street from a restored 1925 building, a short walk from Falls Park on the Reedy and the Peace Center. The Grand Bohemian Lodge, part of Marriott’s Autograph Collection, offers a more design-forward stay near the same riverfront. For something set apart, Hotel Hartness occupies a wooded estate on the east side of the city, with a spa and walking trails for the evenings between rounds, though it sits further from the course than the downtown options.

What to Do Between Rounds

The course sits at the edge of the Mountain Bridge Wilderness, so the closest diversions are outdoors. Jones Gap State Park, also in Marietta, follows the Middle Saluda River into a network of waterfall trails, and Caesars Head State Park, farther up the escarpment toward the North Carolina line, climbs to long views over the Blue Ridge. Either makes for a slow morning before an afternoon tee time.

Travelers Rest rewards a lighter visit. The Prisma Health Swamp Rabbit Trail, a paved greenway linking the town to Greenville, runs through the center of it, where a cluster of restaurants, shops, and a microbrewery has grown up along the route. It is an easy place to spend an hour on foot or by bike between rounds.

Downtown Greenville offers the fullest day. Falls Park on the Reedy sets a working waterfall in the center of the city, with Main Street and the Peace Center a short walk away. The dining is what most visitors remember: Soby’s holds a Wine Spectator Grand Award and a place in the MICHELIN American South Guide, part of a scene that has drawn notice from Travel + Leisure and Lonely Planet.

Life at The Cliffs at Mountain Park 

The tournament offers a four-day look at a place people live in year-round. The Gary Player course that hosts the Carolinas Open is the one members play throughout the seasons, set within 2,000 protected acres along the North Saluda River, with Greene Pond and a trail network that reaches into the surrounding forest. Golf Ridge homesites sit along the fairways, holding the kind of view spectators get for a single week.

Daily life reaches beyond the course. The Cabin serves as the community restaurant, the recently completed Sports Pavilion adds courts and gathering space, and a wellness facility brings fitness and recovery under one roof. One Cliffs membership opens all seven communities across the Blue Ridge, from the mountain courses to the shores of Lake Keowee. Membership is purchased rather than included with a home, so buyers choose the access that suits how they intend to live.

The region’s golf does not end in July, either. In September, the PGA TOUR’s Biltmore Championship comes to The Cliffs at Walnut Cove near Asheville, North Carolina, part of the FedExCup Fall and the Tour’s first visit to the area in more than eighty years. Two professional events in one season, on courses a member plays year-round.

Plan Your Visit

Watching the golf was always the simple part. With the drive, the stay, and the time between rounds settled, the 102nd Carolinas Open becomes an easy four days at Mountain Park, July 13 to 16. Anyone who spent the weekend wondering what living here would feel like can begin with the homes along the fairways.

For a fuller look at the tournament’s history, the Gary Player design, and what the PGA REACH Charity Pro-Am supports, our earlier blog on the 102nd Carolinas Open covers the background this guide builds on.