Blue Devil Golf Club

Blue Devil Golf Club is a public 18-hole course on the southern edge of Calgary, Alberta, in the Bow River valley beside Fish Creek Provincial Park, at 2300 194 Avenue SE in the Chaparral area. The course was designed by the Calgary architects Gary Browning and Wade Horrocks, and the club’s scorecard gives it a par of 72 and a length of 7,207 yards from the black tees, with four shorter sets of tees down to 5,077 yards. Around the main course the site also holds a nine-hole short course called Lil Devil, an 18-hole mini putt, a driving range and an indoor golf centre for the winter. The club’s website is bluedevilgolf.com.

Blue Devil is one of the newer courses in the city. It was begun as a private country club, stood half-built for several seasons, and opened as a public facility in the early 2010s. It belongs to the Play Golf Calgary group, alongside HeatherGlen, The Links of GlenEagles and Serenity.

Which club is this?

This page is about the course in south-east Calgary at the coordinates shown on the map below. We found no other golf club called Blue Devil in Canada, including in Ontario, but two kinds of confusion are worth flagging. First, several directories list the short course separately: Lil Devil has its own name, its own website and its own entries on review apps, and its ratings should not be read as those of the 18-hole course. Second, at least one expatriate directory describes a 27-hole Blue Devil in north-east Calgary, established in 1991, with Blue, White and Black nines. That description matches nothing in the club’s own material or in the press coverage of the course’s construction, and we do not use it.

History: a private club that opened to the public

The course was conceived as a private club. According to a Calgary Herald report of April 2012, construction began in 2008, under owners who intended to run it as a private country club. The Globe and Mail, in a course profile by Bruce Dowbiggin published in October 2012, names those owners as the Shaw family and says they halted work in 2009, citing an economic downturn and a glut of private golf memberships on the Calgary market. The two newspapers differ on the date of the stoppage: the Herald, as summarised in a search excerpt we could read, places it in the year before its April 2012 report, while the Globe says 2009 and adds that 13 finished holes then sat unplayed for three years. We follow the Globe, the fuller of the two accounts we could read.

In the spring of 2012 the unfinished course was sold. The Globe names the buyer as Scott Atkinson, operator of HeatherGlen and The Links of GlenEagles; the Herald gives the purchasing company as Heather Glen Eagles Golf Co. Both say the new owner would run Blue Devil as a public course rather than a private club. That summer, the Globe reports, the remaining five holes were sodded and their greens prepared, and good weather in July and August allowed play to begin. A practice area and the short course were then still under construction.

The opening date is reported differently. The Globe article and the Wolf Willow community blog, published by the developer of the neighbourhood immediately to the south, both place the opening in the summer of 2012. Top 100 Golf Courses says the 18-hole course opened in 2013. The difference may reflect a first season of limited play followed by a full opening, but no source we read says so, and we give both dates.

The ground itself was remade. The Globe describes the site as a flat flood plain near the Bow River before construction, and reports that about 1.5 million metres of soil, in the article’s words, were moved to raise the tees and greens and to shape fairways that fall away from them. Large ponds were dug to store irrigation water, and those ponds are now the course’s main hazards. Top 100 Golf Courses also places the club on the Bow River flood plain and says the design takes its cue from the Golden Age of architecture, with generous width. The club gives the property as about 200 acres.

What it asks of you

The club publishes a full scorecard with five sets of tees. From the black tees the course measures 7,207 yards; from the silver, 6,866; from the blue, 6,494; from the white, 5,934; and from the red, 5,077. Par is 72, split 36 and 36, with four par 5s (the 4th, 9th, 15th and 17th) and four par 3s (the 5th, 7th, 12th and 16th). The back nine is the longer half from every tee: 3,681 yards against 3,526 from the blacks. GolfPass lists the black tees at 7,256 yards, 49 more than the club’s card; we follow the club.

The card carries ratings and slopes under the heading RCGA, the former name of Golf Canada. They are 74.4 and 138 from the black tees, 72.8 and 134 from the silver, 70.8 and 130 from the blue, 68.1 and 125 from the white, 73.9 and 136 for women from the white tees, and 68.8 and 124 from the red. Only the white-tee women’s line is labelled by gender; the card does not say whether the red rating is for men or women, so ask the shop if you need it for handicap purposes.

The designers’ stated aim, as the Globe reported it in 2012, was a course that looks hard but plays easy: wide landing areas in the manner of a resort course, set against deep bunkers that appear throughout the layout. The club’s own description repeats the idea of generous fairways and adds white sand bunkers and water hazards along the Fish Creek pathways. Because the tees and greens were built up from flat ground, the elevation the golfer sees is largely man-made, even if reviewers speak of elevation changes.

The spread of tees is wide. The gap between the blue and white tees is 560 yards, and the red tees shorten some holes drastically: the 6th plays 200 yards from the red against 362 from the black, the 8th 192 against 396, and the 15th 350 against 624. The par 3s range from 81 yards (the 7th from the red) to 215 (the 16th from the black).

The course in sequences

Holes 1 to 5

The round opens with three par 4s of 400, 445 and 456 yards from the black tees (344, 426 and 411 from the blue), the 3rd ranked stroke index 4 and the 2nd stroke index 6. One reviewer on Top 100 Golf Courses found this opening stretch the least interesting part of the course. The 4th is the first par 5, 542 yards from the back, and the 5th a par 3 of 195 yards from the black and 158 from the blue.

Holes 6 to 9

The 6th is the hole most sources single out. It is only 362 yards from the black tees but carries stroke index 2. Top 100 Golf Courses describes it as a short par 4 that doglegs sharply right around a lake; the Globe called it driveable when playing downwind, with a large pond to carry on the approach. The 7th, at 154 yards from the black and 97 from the white, is the shortest hole on the card and stroke index 18. The 8th is a par 4 of 396 yards, and the outward half ends with the longest of the front-nine holes, the 9th, a par 5 of 576 yards from the black tees.

Holes 10 to 14

The back nine begins with two par 4s of 419 and 394 yards, followed by the 12th, a par 3 of 189 yards from the black and 150 from the blue. The 13th and 14th are both par 4s of more than 420 yards from the back, at 442 and 423, and the 14th is stroke index 3.

Holes 15 to 18

The finish is where the course is hardest on paper. The 15th is the longest hole and stroke index 1: 624 yards from the black tees on the current card, though the Globe gave it 629 in 2012. The Globe describes two large bunkers in the driving zone and a green that juts into a large pond; Top 100 Golf Courses adds that the fairway narrows towards the green. The 16th is the longest par 3, 215 yards from the black and 183 from the blue, with water on the left and a deep front bunker according to the Globe. The 17th is a par 5 of 527 yards from the back, stroke index 15, the lowest-ranked hole of the closing stretch. The 18th, a par 4 of 448 yards from the black tees and stroke index 5, finishes below the patio of the clubhouse restaurant.

What golfers say

Blue Devil is reviewed mostly on general platforms rather than in the golf press. Wanderlog aggregates several hundred Google ratings averaging about 4.2 out of 5, Hole19 shows 4.4 from 77 reviews, Tripadvisor shows an average of 3.6 from 26 reviews, and Top 100 Golf Courses has a single reader review, from August 2024. The points below are recurring themes from what we could read in October 2026. They are other golfers’ opinions, not ours, and we quote and name no one.

What comes up in its favour

• The width of the fairways is the most common compliment, especially from newer and higher-handicap players, who describe the course as forgiving off the tee.
• Course condition is generally reported as good, and the greens as quick.
• Staff are often described as friendly, and corporate events and tournaments as well organised.
• The practice facilities, the short course and the clubhouse patio are mentioned as reasons to come back, and some reviewers note views towards the mountains.

What comes up against

• Several holes run side by side in parallel, and one reviewer found the opening three holes dull and the setting short on scenery.
• The greens are firm as well as fast, and approach shots need spin to hold them.
• The green fee has risen over the years, and some reviewers feel the course does not justify it, or did not in a particular season when conditions slipped.
• Some older reviews criticise the marshalling, and Wanderlog’s summary notes glitches with online booking and delays on busy weekends.
• There is a great deal of sand: reviewers who praise the open fairways also count a lot of bunkers.

Playing as a visitor

Blue Devil is a public course and books tee times online through its website, up to seven days ahead. The club’s rates page sets out the terms: a credit card is required and a deposit of 25 per cent is taken at booking, cancellations must be made 24 hours in advance or fees are charged, no group may exceed four players, each golfer must carry their own set of clubs, and non-golfing riders or walkers are not allowed on the course. Prices are dynamic and change with the day, the time and demand, and a twilight rate starts about four hours before dark. A Play Golf Calgary access card, valid across the group’s courses, gives earlier booking.

Power carts cost extra and are not included in the green fee. They may use most fairways under a 90-degree rule, weather permitting; the driver must be 18 or older with a valid driver’s licence, and no group may take more than two carts. The club asks for appropriate golf attire and does not allow outside food or alcohol.

The practice ground is unusually complete for a public course. The driving range is about 300 yards long and opens from sunrise to an hour before dark, except on Tuesdays, when the last bucket is sold at 6 p.m. so the range can be cut. There are two practice greens, one outside the main shop for putting and one at the Lil Devil hut, where chipping is allowed. A TaylorMade fitting centre offers one-to-one sessions by appointment. The club gives two descriptions of Lil Devil: its home page, like the PGA of Alberta and Top 100 Golf Courses, lists seven par 3s from 50 to 175 yards and two par 4s, while its course and practice pages describe par 3s, par 4s and a par 5 from 50 to 300 yards. Private and group lessons are offered, junior programmes run through Lil Devil, and seasonal leagues play from early May to late September. The King and Devil Tap and Grill, in the clubhouse, has a patio overlooking the 18th green.

Getting there and when to go

The club is at 2300 194 Avenue SE, Calgary, AB T2X 0R3, in the Chaparral valley, directly north of the Wolf Willow neighbourhood. In a straight line it lies roughly 18 km south of downtown Calgary and about 26 km south of Calgary International Airport, by our measurement on the map. The club and the tourism office name Macleod Trail, Deerfoot Trail and Highway 22X as the approach roads. The course borders Fish Creek Provincial Park, and the club places its water hazards along the Fish Creek pathways.

Calgary’s season depends on the snow. In 2025 CTV News reported that Blue Devil opened on 21 March on its regular greens, which is early; Visit Calgary gives the season as April to October. The leagues run from early May to late September, and the range stays open until an hour before dark, which in midsummer means late in the evening. In winter the club moves indoors: its simulator season for 2026 opens on 6 November, with weekly leagues from mid-November.

Green fees

Rates vary by day, time and demand, with a separate twilight rate and carts charged on top: see the club’s website for current prices.

How this page was made

The factual frame comes from public sources read in October 2026: OpenStreetMap for the location and outline of the course; the club’s website for the scorecard, ratings and slopes, the designers, the acreage, the visitor terms, carts, practice facilities, lessons, leagues, dining, indoor golf and contact details; The Globe and Mail’s course profile of October 2012 for the construction history, the Shaw family, the sale, the earthmoving and the descriptions of the 6th, 15th and 16th holes; a Calgary Herald report of April 2012, which we could read only as a search-engine excerpt, for the start of construction and the buyer’s company name; Top 100 Golf Courses for the opening year, the design style, the hole notes and its reader review; the Wolf Willow community blog for the opening season, the location and the Play Golf Calgary network; the PGA of Alberta facility page for the short course and the clubhouse; CREB for the Bow River setting; CTV News for the 2025 opening; and Hole19, Wanderlog and Tripadvisor for ratings and review themes. Tripadvisor, GolfPass and the Herald’s page could not be opened directly, so their contribution is limited to what search excerpts showed.

Where sources disagree, we say so. The halt in construction is dated 2009 by the Globe and the year before April 2012 by the Herald. The opening is given as summer 2012 by the Globe and the Wolf Willow blog, and as 2013 by Top 100 Golf Courses. The 15th measured 629 yards in the Globe in 2012 and 624 on the current card. GolfPass gives the black tees as 7,256 yards against the club’s 7,207. The club describes Lil Devil in two different ways. One directory gives the season as June to September, which conflicts with the club’s own opening dates, and we do not use it.

The opinion section summarises reviews and descriptions read in October 2026. We report recurring themes rather than individual voices, and we reproduce no quotations. Nobody from Panxis has played or visited this course, and this page is no substitute for a round.

The club has not paid for this page, has not seen it before publication and has no say over its content. This page contains no commercial link and earns us no commission. If you know the course and something here is wrong or out of date, write to us and we will correct it.

Other courses nearby

Closest to this one in our Canadian directory:

• Carnmoney Golf & Country Club — 8 km
• Confederation Park Golf Course — 22 km
• Predator Ridge Resort — 388 km
• Fairview Mountain Golf Club — 443 km