The Chief Golf Course

This course can be a challenge. The course was in very good condition for this time of year. Greens were mowed well but leaves were all over - bring a blower!

But was fairly unforgiving if your shot veers to the right or left. The rough falls off to out of bounds with very little reprieve on many of the holes

Beautiful course, challenging and well conditioned.
Definitely a course I would recommend

This is the second time I’ve played this last being 8 years ago and now I remember why. It is tight, steep, tough to walk around even with a cart. Several steep hills while driving to each tee.
Its in great shape as it doesn’t get a lot of play. Most golfers in the area are retirees and I can see them having difficulty especially if they have knee problems or they are not in great shape.
Cart was slow but they must gear them down because of steep slopes. Im a 10 handicap and struggled. Not a fun course. I couldn’t wait to finish after 12 holes. Sorry but it’s exhausting.

Very nice course and layout. Fairly busy and beautiful saturday in late august. Great staff. Incredible bbq dinner at nest after. Nest packed out for dinner. Fun.

All that said, 6-some in front if us and 5-some in front of them. Five other groups playing scramble and brutally slow. Even some of the twosomes were terribly slow. Would have been a six hour round but played thru a couple of the groups (with tudes!!) and skipped two holes and got done in 4:40.

My wife and i are mid 60s, so it’s the pot calling the kettle old…but don’t know if i want to play any shanty courses on the weekend. Not worth the risk of an all-day round.

It’s simple…GET a RANGER out there with a CATTLE PROD!! No ranger anywhere!!

With a slope of 139, The Chief is a test of your skill set, and use of most every club in the bag. It rewards good shots, and penalizes almost anything errant. A truly beautiful up north golf experience. And, great food and drink at The Nest right on property. Oh, and bring extra balls.

We played this course last year for the first time and I thought it was a little bit tracked up. It’s really quite an odd layout you have to drive literally a quarter mile to the first hole and then when you make it back to the clubhouse at the turn you have to drive darn near half mile to the 210 T. The main reason we came back was because we enjoyed ourselves tremendously at Dunmaglas on Wednesday. We like the mountain club courses, but this does not really compare to Dan McGrath’s Dunmaglas

Course conditions are pretty good and we got a great rate of $37 each on a Thursday which as well we did it for but the price was so good And it wasn’t really slow. It’s just it’s so weird driving all over up and down mountains and dirt roads and and if the parking brake goes bad you’re screwed here also but we had a good time it was hot we scored OK it doesn’t really matter enjoyed ourselves and they’re smaller screens here if you don’t get them on the green, they’re gonna roll off and down into the woods. It’s kind of tricky, but get your butts up there to Dunmaglas
Shannon Creek Summit looks awful Shanty Creek you’re dumb in Kalkaska today playing twin birch not Murch birch and this is flat compared to what we just played the last couple days. OK I guess that’s about it yes go and play the chief and see what you think but if your idea of driving up and down dirt car, Passin in the woods and, that kind of thing then go for it specially, for that price but I would pay no 75 bucks or anything like that no way Jose I don’t think we’re gonna play it again. I said that last year but I mean at this time just tripped up until weird.

The course was in good shape. The course is difficult. Very tight. I hit a lot of long irons off the tee.

This is a beautiful course with a somewhat challenging layout. Unless you are accurate, be prepared to loose a few golf balls! There are blind approaches, narrow fairways and steep drop-offs on nearly every hole.

The Chief doesn't disappoint. We've played here for years and it's a thinking person's course-need to be strategic, even off the tee to play well. Great topography, beautiful holes and views, it's in great shape and will test everyone at their level. From the Whites/Blues, it's a challenge for the lower handicappers, while the golds/reds are also a challenge for higher handicappers. We love this course-it's in great shape and they switched up the 9s a few years ago, which makes a ton of sense. Well worth it! Lou Chmura

Played in Early July with a GroupGolfer deal for only $40. For what we paid, this was an exceptional deal. Pace of play was not an issue, but we were the first tee time out (7:30am). The course is VERY well kept, and that in and of itself makes it worth it. The greens weren't super fast, but weren't slow, and all the bunkers (except one hole - probably cause we played early and they hand't got there yer) were well groomed, and the fairways were cut properly.

The layout is pretty unique, as there are lots of holes where you can't, or shouldn't hit Driver. In some ways that gets a bit too repetitive on the back 9, as there's lots of holes where you have to hit a 220-230 yard shot (from Blue tees) to a landing area before a dogleg or hazard.
That being said, there is some incredible elevation changes, and opportunities for some cool views. I wouldn't say there is a "signature" hole, rather, just a lot of unique holes. The routing is pretty crazy too, as you have long cart rides to get to the 1st and 10th tees, and then have to go over a bridge on the highway to play the last 3 holes!

Many people have said this - it's a challenging course too. Be prepared to lose some balls, unless you can really keep it in play. There is a 3 hole stretch on the front that is open, but other than that, basically the entire course is tree lined.

All in all a very enjoyable round, and even with all the great courses around Bellaire, I would argue this one is as well kept as any.

Decided to play last minute and checked Shanty Creek website as I wanted to play Hawk's Eye twilight. Website showec plenty of availability....but when I called from downtown Bellaire to go out as single.....all of sudden there are no openings until almost 4pm?? That seems a bit far fetched....so rather than calling I just drove to The Chief. Was a bit disappointed my last couple of plays a few years back (conditioning was not good and course was deteriorating).

When I arriving the gal in the proshop was super accomodating. I've been playing The Chief off and on since it opened in 2000. The current 10th hole was originally a ridiculously hard Par 5 that they turned into a Par 4 and the course has been rerouted so you return the proshop/restaurant area after the 9th. Current 16th through 18th holes were the original 1, 2 & 3 starting holes. The rerouting was a good thing and there's a lot more scenic driving through thick forest to reach the next tee box. The signs can be tough to follow but if you pay attention you'll have no issues getting around.

Some of the greens have some minor fungus issue but I did not notice impacting my play. Tee boxes and fairways were great....traps generally okay. The course is in the best shape I've seen in at least a decade and all of the improvements eliminating some sand traps and filling in a bit of water hazard on the 5th hole make the course a bit more friendly. The white tees are more than enough (139 slope) for any serious golfer. The Chief has to played a few times to get the hang of it...forced carries and trouble if you get marginally off line. This is course that you must learn to fully appreciate and enjoy....it has several quirks and shots you normally are not face so first timers - just smile when you park a ball in the woods and say to youself- I can't wait to get another crack at this place. I played the 129 slope gold tees and had a very enjoyable round. Other than a couple of lay up tee shots the course is much more playable and you can still swing away in most instances. The yardages are deceptive - elevation changes abound and with certain wind conditions even downhill shots can easily be an extra club or two. There are a number of holes that play really really long uphill - several approaches don't appear to be uphill but are.

Staff could not have been more pleasant....everyone had a smile on their face. Range and practice area to warm up. Awesome outdoor patio and bar as well as a the Pelican's Nest which is wonderful to enjoy a post round dinner or libation. There were several people picking up takeout.

On a weekday afternoon I got around as a single in 3 hours - a perfect sunny day with enough wind to keep things interesting. Solid 4 stars plus plus and I highly recommend .....better than playing at those completely packed Shanty Creek courses...Chief IMHO a much better value.