The Chief Golf Course

We played the course again in a large group. There are simply too many blind tee shots and forced carries over hazards. Some holes seemed "tricked up" instead of making them fair difficult holes. As other reviewers have said, the course layout changes made GPS difficult; but the managers did give us a GPS cheat sheet to help. The holes were often pretty and well maintained. Greens were quite spotted in places. It will be many years before I go back again. Too many better choices in Northern Michigan.

We booked through The Chief for our annual golf trip. We were told we would be golfing The Chief, Hawk's Eye, and Sundance. We started on The Chief. The course was in decent shape, but they had moved all the holes around and the woman at the desk did not say a word about it, so none of the GPS's worked. The greens were so slow that I could not get myself to physically hit the ball as hard as you needed to in order to get it anywhere near the hole. The course was difficult and most of the guys in the group (not great golfers) lost many, many balls. After the Chief, we were sent to Atrium Dells, a nice course, but not Sundance, and on the final day, Mike (the guy who set up the trip) had us for a tee time at 1 P.M. on departure day as Hawk's Eye had leagues on Tuesday and did not even open to the public until then. We ended up at Centennial Farms and this course was a joke. I contacted Mike to give him the opportunity to make things right, and he ignored me as well as other group members. If you are planning a trip to the area, do not go through Mike at the Chief.

One issue when starting my round. Booked as a single, arrived 50 minutes early. Was told there were a couple groups ahead of me and said to hang out at the putting green and would let me know when it was time to proceed to the first tee. No one around to get me started at all. One group went off right away but there was at least a 30 minute gap between groups. I had to wait the entire 50 minutes then just proceeded to the first tee without any direction. Ended up playing through all of the groups anyways, but found it ridiculous I couldn’t start sooner. Most courses I’ve been to would be more accommodating. I did find the course fun to play but man did the greens SUCK!! Still had some aeration marks and did not roll very well.

Great course but for advanced golfers only. Lots of target golf. We enjoyed it very much

This course is in awful shape. Greens are not well kept and overall we were really disappointed. The summit course was in way better shape and less $. The staff at the restaurant were way below average. took almost 25 min to get our fish fry on Friday night. Music was probably the highlight. I will not be returning.

Very helpful informative staff, the greens are difficult and the hilly course is truly cut right out of the woods. You rarely see others while you are playing as the holes are spread out. Not for the weak or beginner golfer due to carries and hills. The only concern was the greens could be in better shape and consistent imho.

Definitely will go back.

Great day; course in great condition. Pace of play was good; there was a group of about 8-9 on the front nine that slowed play on the last couple of holes? Not sure why they allow that on a Saturday?

I like the changes being made to the course. Holes now laid out so you come back to the club house at the turn! Also, changes to make the course more playable makes it more enjoyable, the changes aren’t complete yet but are going to be nice when done.

On a whim I decided to play the Chief, and I'm very happy I did. It's a beautiful northern Michigan course that challenges you in many ways throughout the round. There are a lot of blind tee shots and forced carries for people playing the back few sets of tees. The greens are some of the smallest I've seen, but can be stuck pretty easily (if you have the accuracy.) A lot of the experience here is about accuracy, so if you're a pretty inaccurate golfer, I suggest maybe playing someplace a little less challenging.

The elevation changes and gorgeous views make this round worthwhile, as well. The pro shop and restaurant have a great selection; It's some of the best golf course food I've had.

The only negative thing I can think of is some of the conditioning on the greens and a few spots in the fairway. Other than that, the course is in great shape. Also, I know it's not something people normally write about in reviews, but the bridges on the course are very well built and made me feel very safe.

I'd suggest adding the Chief to your northern Michigan golf trip- it''ll add a fun challenge and you'll get to see how beautiful a course in the middle of a hardwood forest can be!

If you enjoy elevation changes, challenging holes, and a great view, you will love this course.

Tee boxes were in bad shape and sand was not fluffy or groomed.

This course is unique/quirky. For the most part your driver and stay in bag other than just a few holes. Many dog legs requiring 150 to 180 yard approach shots up hill. The sand traps need redoing removing rocks. Sand racks were extremely lacking in some cases there were none and certainly wasn't waste area. This is also course that playing the first time could be struggle as it is more of shot makers course. The restaurant at the club is excellent and staff was very good. Overall I would still play again and see if second time changes my appreciation for the course.