5085 Shanty Creek Road, Bellaire, Michigan 49615, US
(231) 533-9000
Location Map

About The Chief

The Chief is one of three golf resorts within close proximity of one another in Bellaire - Hawk's Eye Golf Resort and Shanty Creek Resorts the others. It offers several accommodation choices. The golf cottages along the fifth fairway are executive quality with upper and lower units. Each one sleeps eight (four double beds total) with a kitchen and living space. The five-bedroom Valley View home is located across the street from the course. A four-bedroom cabin called "The Roost" sits on the 18th fairway close to the Pelican's Nest restaurant. For all three options, passes to the Shanty Creek Resorts pool facility are included. The Blue Pelican Inn & Restaurant, run by the same owners, is roughly 10 miles away in Central Lake.

Facts

Price Range$$
Property Class★★★
Year Opened1996
Number of UnitsLess than 100

Amenities & Services

RestaurantsCasual
Practice FacilityYes

Rules

Is the resort pet friendly?No
Is resort stay required for a tee time?No

Golf courses at The Chief

Reviews

4.5
155 Reviews (155)
Advanced Filters
Overall Rating
Recommended
Handicap
Age
Type of Golfer
Gender
Played On
Reviews 2
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Previously Played
Conditions Average
Value Excellent
Layout Good
Friendliness Good
Pace Good
Amenities Good
Played On
Reviews 1
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a month
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing

Beautiful Course

It is a challenging but beautiful golf course. Great views and in good condition.

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Played On
Reviews 5
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing

Quirky but fun

Lots of elevation changes. The layout was a bit weird but the course was marked well. It felt like desert target golf set in northern Michigan. We had a fun round and the price was right. The course was in pretty good condition.

Conditions Good
Value Excellent
Layout Average
Friendliness Average
Pace Excellent
Played On
Reviews 1
Handicap 10-14
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
3.0
Previously Played
Perfect weather
Used cart

Quirky layout with tiny greens

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.

Conditions Good
Value Average
Layout Poor
Friendliness Good
Pace Average
Amenities Good
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging
Played On
Reviews 1
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Played On
Reviews 1
Skill Advanced
Plays Once a week
3.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing

Good layout, fun to play! One issue with starting the round.

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.

Conditions Fair
Value Excellent
Layout Good
Friendliness Average
Pace Average
Amenities Average
Played On
Reviews 16
Handicap 10-14
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
3.0
First Time Playing
Perfect weather
Used cart

Disappointing Trip

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.

Conditions Average
Value Average
Layout Average
Friendliness Average
Pace Good
Amenities Average
Difficulty Extremely Challenging
Played On
Reviews 1
Skill Beginner
Plays Once every three months
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing
Conditions Good
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Played On
Reviews 2
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Played On
Reviews 4
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played

Didn’t care for the new layout of holes. #1 is now # 16. Liked the original layout better

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

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Good
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Played On
Reviews 4
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
Conditions Good
Value Excellent
Layout Average
Friendliness Good
Pace Excellent
Amenities Good
Played On
Reviews 19
Handicap 5-9
Skill Advanced
Plays Once a week
2.0
Previously Played
Perfect weather
Used cart

Really Gone Downhill

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.

Conditions Poor
Value Poor
Layout Average
Friendliness Fair
Pace Good
Amenities Fair
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging
Played On
Reviews 1
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Good
Difficulty Extremely Challenging
Played On
Reviews 48
Handicap 20-24
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
Perfect weather
Used cart

Great day on a great course!

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?

Conditions Good
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Difficulty Moderate
Played On
Reviews 1
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing

The Chief

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.

Conditions Good
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Played On
Reviews 7
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played

Good things are happening

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.

Conditions Average
Value Good
Layout Good
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Good
Played On
Reviews 6
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
3.0
Previously Played

Hardest course in the region...(by far)

Course maintenance is slacking off...,the holes have been re-arranged and the various gps apps don’t work.....still a lot of fun...several carry holes. Must be an accurate golfer.

Conditions Average
Value Excellent
Layout Average
Friendliness Fair
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Played On
Reviews 5
Skill Beginner
Plays Once a month
I Recommend This Course
5.0
First Time Playing
Conditions Good
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Good
Played On
Reviews 94
Handicap 10-14
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Michigan Advisor
Top 250 Contributor
First Time Playing
Perfect weather
Used cart

A challenging beauty

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!

Conditions Good
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Average
Pace Good
Amenities Excellent
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging
Played On
Reviews 4
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
4.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played

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

Conditions Fair
Value Average
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Good
Pace Excellent
Amenities Good
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