Upper or lower fairway is your first decision when starting your round at the Pulpit. The upper fairway provides a safe but long route to the green. The lower fairway offers a direct route but forces your approach to carry water in front of the green. No risk, no reward!

The key here is to consider the pin position. Then ask yourself whether you want to drive close to the slightly raised green or ease up and leave yourself a full second shot.

The green is long and sloped right to left. Do you want to fly the ball all the way to the hole or work it off the slopes when the pin is back left? Any hole location on the upper right tier is the most difficult.

You want to drive the ball as long as possible on this big, uphill hole to gain favourable access to the huge, highly contoured green that fronts a back bunker framed by railroad ties. The right bend in the fairway invites you to cut the corner.

Choose your tee shot according to your approach preference. To flip a wedge over Silver Creek, drive long to the blind landing area. A short tee shot will command a perfect longer iron into the narrow and well-protected green.

Play well right of the carefully preserved 18th-century cemetery site. This will open up the green, which swings left to right. You can run the ball in from the side, if you choose. Give the big bunker to the right plenty of respect.

This gorgeous hole pays tribute to a triangular-shaped rock on the Niagara Escarpment and is exposed to the wind more than any other hole. It calls for creativity and commitment to whatever shot you elect to play.

The essential feature here is a double fairway divided by bunkers. The two-level green is reachable in two shots, but it’s often prudent to lay up and play the hole as a three-shot par 5. One mistake can lead to bogey or worse.

This twisting, right to left hole plays around a bunker on the left to a green that swings hard from right to left. The hole asks for an approach shot that comes in from the right, taking advantage of the green’s contours.

A pretty hole that drops from the tee to a fairway divided by a stand-alone tree. Drive past the tree or play short, but don’t get behind it. The green’s slopes invite an approach that feeds off them to get near the hole.

How much risk do you want to take on? Playing left will leave a shorter shot to the green, but there’s sand and water to consider. Playing right is safer, but requires a longer approach to a deep green that runs fast toward the pond.

Every great course should include a drivable par 4 — and this is the Pulpit’s. Be careful and good luck! Water on the right and sand on the left protect the green and threaten an attacking but wayward drive.

Members play this as an extra hole during club events, and it shares a green with No. 11 West. The longish par 3 tells you one thing for sure: Don’t be short because water will gobble your ball and any wager you may have made.

The “grade” in the name of this hole is appropriate. The green runs hard back to front and right to left, and its grade requires the correct club for your approach. A ball hit short will likely reverse direction back to the fairway.

A long and accurate drive will leave you with a chance to reach the green. But you must guard against coming up short and landing in the wetlands. The wisest play is right of the green, but the fun is in taking on the shot and going for broke.

Fescue frames both sides of the fairway, while sod-walled bunkers eat into the landing zone. It’s all too easy to hit what looks like a great drive and then find that your ball has run into a bunker. Guard against this and you are on your way to conquering the hole.

The fairway slopes right to left, so favour the right side with your tee shot. This will open up the green, which is lower than the fairway and sweeps right to left. Make the slopes your friend on your tee shot and approach.

The pond on this all-carry hole demands a well-struck shot. Like many Pulpit holes, there’s a preferred side to come in from; here’s it’s the right side. A right to left shot will use the green’s width and slide to the hole wherever it’s cut.

The valley fairway sweeps up to a fascinating green protected by a bunker at the front left. The green slopes back to front, so try to ensure that your approach finishes below the hole.

Carry the wasteland in front of you — if you can — or turn your tee shot over from the right. You can take on the green with a big bomb. Anything less would call for a layup to full wedge distance for a better chance at avoiding the welcoming bunker on the right. Next up? The Horn Bar.