I have friends who went to Chofetz Chaim and they told me this. (I know they arent Chassidish)
They said that Chofetz Chaim feels that a beard is something special meant for more learned people
Oh, I wasn’t accusing you of making it up. I just thought you’d want to know that your friends are not correct. You can believe me–I was there for a very long time, and got smicha from them (which takes a really really long time).