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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 |
Course Details
Rentals/Services
Practice/Instruction
Policies
Food & Beverage
Bar, Grill, RestaurantAvailable Facilities
Clubhouse
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
sprinklers on with standing water on greens
sprinklers on with standing water on greens.
Pretty course with lots of hills and long distances between holes
The Chief
The Chief is a beautiful, challenging, scenic up north course!!
I would definitely recommend this course and look foreword to returning to play it again!!!!
The Chief and The Nest
My wife and I had drinks and a pizza at The Nest before our round. Both were delicious. The course was in great shape and had a lot of dog legs. You can’t beat up north courses for their natural beauty and The Chief is one of the best. The staff were courteous and friendly. Live music at The Nest afterwards capped it all off. We loved it!
Course was great shape. Greens rolled great. Very scenic!
Funky course. You’ll love the challenge
This course was something I haven’t played before. Being a Bermuda guy down in FL this was an experience.
The course is tricky. It was in pretty good shape though. No Bev cart was kind of a bummer though.
Make sure you pack extra balls when you play here for the first time.
The course was challenging and well maintained.
The Chief was a good course and well maintained. The staff was friendly and helpful. The restaurant called The Nest was phenomenal. We stayed at Shanty Creek and ate their three different times. The food and staff were great all three times.
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.
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