The Chief Golf Course
About
The Chief Golf Course, nicknamed the Spirit of the North, is one of northern Michigan's premier courses. The championship course tumbles across rolling hills, providing dramatic elevation changes throughout. If you're a fan of mountain golf then this is the golf course for you. By far the toughest challenge golfers will face is the carefully sculpted mounding that borders most of the greensides. The mounds can create difficult angles for pitching and chipping. There are also a slew of strategically placed bunkers throughout. Strong mid and short iron play is important since accurate approaches are the key to this course. The unique design definitely makes it a course for shot-makers. The layout finishes with one of its most challenging holes, a par 4 with water to the left and bunkers and mounding to the right.
| Tee | Par | Length | Rating | Slope |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blue | 71 | 6482 yards | 72.3 | 145 |
| White (W) | 71 | 6033 yards | 76.2 | 142 |
| White | 71 | 6033 yards | 70.3 | 134 |
| Gold | 71 | 5390 yards | 66.2 | 127 |
| Gold (W) | 71 | 5390 yards | 72.0 | 133 |
| Red | 69 | 4527 yards | 65.8 | 120 |
| Red (W) | 69 | 4527 yards | 67.1 | 122 |
| Hole | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Out | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | In | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blue M: 72.3/145 | 365 | 542 | 428 | 364 | 407 | 178 | 314 | 214 | 446 | 3258 | 384 | 395 | 315 | 203 | 523 | 387 | 365 | 135 | 517 | 3224 | 6482 |
| White M: 70.3/134 W: 76.2/142 | 333 | 521 | 397 | 337 | 395 | 160 | 302 | 197 | 420 | 3062 | 369 | 377 | 306 | 172 | 474 | 364 | 328 | 128 | 453 | 2971 | 6033 |
| Gold M: 66.2/127 W: 72.0/133 | 295 | 504 | 362 | 302 | 365 | 154 | 292 | 121 | 374 | 2769 | 295 | 338 | 288 | 150 | 427 | 292 | 290 | 121 | 420 | 2621 | 5390 |
| Red M: 63.5/121 | 258 | 407 | 301 | 273 | 294 | 96 | 248 | 87 | 317 | 2281 | 256 | 249 | 278 | 130 | 402 | 278 | 265 | 111 | 372 | 2341 | 4622 |
| Handicap | 7 | 5 | 1 | 13 | 3 | 15 | 10 | 16 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 14 | 18 | 12 | 8 | 9 | 17 | 11 | |||
| Par | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 35 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 36 | 71 |
| Handicap (W) | 13 | 1 | 3 | 11 | 7 | 17 | 14 | 18 | 4 | 2 | 12 | 10 | 16 | 6 | 8 | 9 | 15 | 5 |
Course Details
Rentals/Services
Practice/Instruction
Policies
Food & Beverage
Bar, Grill, RestaurantAvailable Facilities
ClubhouseReviews
Reviewer Photos
-
Hole 4 Photo submitted by wmoller on 06/29/2025
-
Photo submitted by u183373765 on 08/27/2022
-
Photo submitted by u183373765 on 08/27/2022
-
Photo submitted by noahjurik on 09/24/2018
-
Photo submitted by noahjurik on 09/24/2018
-
Photo submitted by noahjurik on 09/24/2018
-
Photo submitted by noahjurik on 09/24/2018
-
Awesome sign! Photo submitted by TheWeaz on 09/25/2012
staff are great folks
Nice layout. Every hole has character. Challenging but lots of fun. Check the gas tank. Hole 10 is quite a distance from the clubhouse and Hole 11 is a country mile from there. Definitely taking on the Chief again.
Fun Course
This is a course to have fun on! Very challenging, beautiful, and super fun course. Not a boring hole on the entire course.
Not for the beginner
Course was in very good condition -- greens were slow but true. For the low to mid handicap players, this course would be a gem and a challenge. Not for the faint of heart or high handicappers. Some very scenic holes.
Come and take a beating
Unless you are a STEADY lower handicapper, say under 13, you will find The Chief will scalp you. This is tougher than Pebble Beach, Bay Harbor or the nearby Hawks Eye ( which isn't easy).
I don't need the abuse, not a replay for meas a 17 handicap index and an erratic player.
This course has some beautiful views
It is a challenging course for women, lots of hidden holes, when you play the first time if you can, ride up the fairway and take a look where to place your next shot. There is no easy shot to the green, lots of deep bunkers.
Must Play
Each hole was fun, conditions fantastic. The food was great!
Nice course but difficult
It was a nice course but fairly difficult. We were a twosome playing with a lot of foursomes which held up our pace of play. We only saw the food cart once and it was not well stocked. Nothing at the turn except pop vending machines. Bag drop service was subpar we've been ro less caliber courses that have better bag drop/first hole service. It was our first time playing rhe course so when we asked the girl at bag drop wher hole 1 was she pointed in a direction and said its up there.
Very tough
The course is beautiful however the immense number if blind shots detracts from its overall appeal. It's value is tremendous however if you don't bring your A game you may be very frustrated and will definitely not leave with as many balls as you came with.
Tough course if you haven't played it before...
Played the Chief as part of our annual golf trip to Michigan. What made the course tough for me was not knowing where to be off the tee. Drove the ball well but put it in some bad spots from lack of course knowledge. It is target golf. Some greens are small so your yardages need to be pretty accurate to score well. We had several guys shoot anywhere from 75 to 91. The greens seemed slow due to not being cut that morning. We stayed in the cottages on the 5th hole and the pin locations hadn't been changed since we were there. We also had an 8am tee time and the course staff weren't ready for us when we arrived. Carts were still locked up. I was also a little disappointed that after paying for the golf package they still charge you for range balls to warm up with.
This is a very scenic and quiet golf course.
This is a links type course and we needed to read the score card on most holes to decide how to hit each shot. Very challenging when considering the elevation changes which make it so scenic.
This is our first time playing this course.
Play this course!
We played an 18 hole scramble as part of our family reunion after hearing about The Chief from a local. Wow it was awesome! The pace was good and the layout very picturesque. The drives from tee to tee were sometimes lengthy and calming. On many holes, you never really could see the other holes which is quite unique. Bring a lot of balls...lots of woods, ravines, and grassy hillsides. We played with about 10 of us and to a man we all agreed that the course was very nice and that we would come back for another round.
Extremely challenging
Many,many blind shots made club selection and direction too difficult. Many times I could not have seen if there were any if fairway or even green when I was hitting. There was an unusually high number of forced carries.
The Chief
Excellent value! Friendly staff. They were waiting for us, " you must be the 8:00 group" with a smile!
Best valiue in Northern Michigan
Very difficult course. Every hole had it's unique challenges. Course layout was spectacular. It was a true value.
Elevation& Beauty
The Elevation changes with the awesome views and the Excellent shape of the entire course makes this a Must Play in Northern Michigan. Ive only been on one course that matches or exceeds the beauty of this course which was the Reflections at Garland. This course has quickly become one of my Favorites.
Tough Course!
I'm a 16 handicap player and this course was too difficult to be fun. Too many blind shots, large bunkers which discourages people from raking, and course does not seem to flow well. Greens were nice but a wee bit slow. Staff was friendly and helpful. Dinner at Pelican's Nest after golf was delicious.
This course has been well taken care of.
I have played Hawks Eye as well, and both of these courses are an excellent bang for your buck.
A "must" in Northern Michigan.
Beautiful "Up North" golf!
Great conditions other than the bunkers...most should be played as waste areas...not the greatest sand! Saw deer, turkey's, woodpeckers and other asserted wildlife....nice!
Glad I brought extra balls
Condition was very nice... But using your driver ... Well , leave that at home. The hills are nice for the first hole or two..... Then if your not a pro the balls n drops start to add up$
I only lost 5 balls total... My friend lost 20... Did not have a good time to say the least :(
If u are looking for a challenge ... This is for you"
Chief was in the best shape in several years
Very challenging track which is always worth a play. Course is in the best shape it's been in several years....the last couple of years overall The Chief was in very rough shape but this year greens/traps and fairways were great!! Kudo's to the owner as he is maintaining this challenge and also making some smart changes/improvements to assist with playability. High handicappers will run up a huge score on this course. Play the forward tees so you can enjoy your day rather than beating yourself up. Gold forward tees still have a 132 slope which is more than plenty.