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
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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
Great deal
Got a great deal to play here for $25. Course layout was pretty challenging with lots of intimidating tee shots. Good variety of holes that require different clubs off the tee. Scorecard and the provided guide book were nice features for first time players. One downside is that once you tee off there isn't any place to grab a snack or a drink. We played on a Thursday and there was nothing other than a few water coolers available on the course. Load up at the clubhouse before you head out. Overall it was an enjoyable round.
Decent
Course is slightly suffering from dryness, but they were working hard to keep it watered on every hole. Good experience overall
Excellent Course!
Excellent course, extremely challenging if you don't stay down the middle! Fairways were in terrific shape. Greens were good, except fairly small, and undulating. Will continue to play here!
A Challenge, But Rewarding, Too!
A Challenge for all skill levels. Rewards shot placement, penalizes errant shots. Beauty of northern Michigan on almost every hole. Forward tees and "beginner" tees accommodate the less skilled quite nicely, while middle and back tees raise the bar significantly for those who want to challenge the layout.. Bring extra balls if you can't hit 'em straight! After the round, have a draft or a snack or a great meal at the Pelicans Nest right on property! Great food and ambiance dining outdoors!
Toughest course
This corse demands that you be able to place your ball if you expect to score well. The corse conditions were good, there weren't very many golfers there on a Sunday afternoon so pace of play was good. I would recommend this corse foe boggy or better golfers.
Poorly maintained
Very poorly maintained. Never saw them cut the greens in 3 days staying on the course. Actually never saw any mowers at all Some of the holes were so beat up from being in the same location for days. The layout is so quirky barely used a wood off the tee. Super tight like 20 yd fairway and 2yrd rough then basically a forest or unplayable area. There were a couple holes that were nice like #6 and 7 but that was about it. The rest were so tight and not fun. I'm a 5 handicap and thought it was unfair and really poorly set up. Plenty of other courses in the area that are much nicer.
Cool Track
Local mom and pop feel to clubhouse and bar. Nice people running the shop as well. We played on a rainy day and had a good time. Very demanding layout and very scenic. Pretty good shape condition wise. Fair price and would return for sure.
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.