Devils Thumb Golf Club

Devils Thumb Golf Club sits in Delta, Colorado, a small agricultural town on the western slope of the Rockies between Grand Junction and Montrose. The course takes its name from the distinctive Devils Thumb rock formation visible in the surrounding landscape, part of the dramatic geology that defines this high-desert region where the Uncompahgre Plateau meets irrigated valley floor. Rick Phelps designed the layout to work with the natural terrain characteristic of western Colorado golf—rolling ground with elevation changes, native grasses and scrub vegetation framing play corridors, and views extending toward distant mesas and mountain ranges. The routing typically incorporates the area's topographical variety, asking golfers to manage uphill and downhill shots while accounting for the thinner air at roughly 5,000 feet elevation, which adds noticeable distance to well-struck shots. The course serves Delta and the surrounding North Fork Valley, a region better known for fruit orchards and outdoor recreation than golf tourism. As a daily-fee facility in a small Western Slope community, Devils Thumb provides accessible golf in a setting where the high-desert climate allows for a long season and the landscape offers a distinctly different character from Colorado's better-known mountain resort courses. The experience centers on straightforward golf amid the open, arid beauty typical of the western slope, where agriculture, ranching, and recreation define the local culture.