The Chief Golf Course

Overview: The Chief is a high-energy 18-hole course in Bellaire, built across the rolling forest and elevation changes of the Chain of Lakes region. John Robinson’s layout reaches 7,011 yards at par 72, but its identity is not simply length. The holes move through wooded ground, climb and fall across the property and ask the golfer to read both the lie and the horizon before choosing a line. With Shanty Creek’s other courses and Bellaire Centennial nearby, The Chief is part of one of northern Michigan’s most concentrated golf itineraries.

History: The course opened in 2000 as part of the Chief Resort golf development and has remained associated with John Robinson’s broader Michigan design work. Its resort setting gives it a destination role, but the routing is distinct from the nearby Shanty Creek collection. The course’s elevation and woodland movement provide the main historical continuity: it was shaped to use the Bellaire terrain rather than flattening the land into a conventional resort template.

Did You Know? The Chief shares its name with the resort, but the golf identity comes from the terrain. A round rises and falls through the wooded Bellaire landscape, making elevation a recurring part of club selection and approach planning.