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The Chief Golf Course
Rating Snapshot
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 |
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Reviews
Reviewer Photos
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Hole 4 Photo submitted by wmoller on 06/29/2025
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Photo submitted by u183373765 on 08/27/2022
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Photo submitted by u183373765 on 08/27/2022
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Photo submitted by noahjurik on 09/24/2018
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Photo submitted by noahjurik on 09/24/2018
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Photo submitted by noahjurik on 09/24/2018
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Photo submitted by noahjurik on 09/24/2018
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Awesome sign! Photo submitted by TheWeaz on 09/25/2012
New
Great new club house, well manicured and friendly staff. Will play again.
Not what I expected
A lot of target golf because of blind shots. Bunkers were unplayable
Not worth full price but if you get it a discount then it’s fair. Greens ,fairways and green were fine but disappointing were the bunkers for what is supposed to be a luxury course.
Elevations
This.track plays long because all the elevation changes. If you are used to playing.flat Municipal city coarses this will eat your lunch. You will loose balls and the chance of finding any is slim.. if you are off the fairways there is thick vegetation and deep Ravines. How they cut this track out of the terrain is really amazing. This place wore me out. Look before you hit. Alot of blind shots lead to trouble with no chance to recover. This place is a maze and definitely not walkable, even your cart will take a beating. Should of called this GC The Ravines. It is very scenic but hard. If you are a beginner take alot of old balls. I am a advanced golfer and probably lost six. The elevation change you are seeing is not always accurate, till you get to the green and look back. Good Luck
Course was in great shape, greens & fairways. People were very accommodating. Will surely play again.
Great Course: Meh Service
There was no wait staff on the course, and round was 5 and 1/2 hours because nobody monitoried pace of play.
Great course, but the lack of staffing was a challenge.
Great course
Nice brand new clubhouse with Trackman simulators, huge bar, pleasant staff. Course was in great shape and has a great layout. No back and forth holes. Will definitely play again. Well done to the team at The Chief.
Fun and Challenging
Difficult layout, but a really fun course. I’m a 14 handicap, and the white tees gave me all I wanted and then some. Par 3s were particularly challenging. I look forward to playing again, now that I understand a little bit about the layout.
Interesting Layout......Hilly, Challenging Course!
First time playing this course. Front nine is not as penal as the back nine. The back nine is basically cut out of woods with lots of elevation changes, few flat lies, and fairly narrow fairways/landing areas. I would think that a high handicap golfer would struggle on the back nine especially if they did not play from the correct tees. If you have trouble hitting the ball straight you could loose a lot of balls on this course, balls hit off line are hard to find and even if you could see it , it might be impossible to get to. I would say this course is not possible to play without a cart, i'm not sure if they even allow walkers. The course was in very nice condition and although it kicked my butt, I was glad to have played it.
Fantastic course! Pretty challenging, but not super long.
Shanty Creek Stay & Play Package
Destination Kohler - Champions' Trail Golf Package
