I'ver probably played Reay 10 times. The opening holes are certainly challenging, but I think the best of the course begins with the fourth which is the 566 yard par 5 David indicates. Like many holes on the course, the fourth falls away from for its entire length including an escarpment longer hitters could reach and receive quite a bit of bonus yardage. To top it off, or perhaps I should say bottom it off, there's a small burn behind the green to punish the over aggressive approach.
Five is a shortish but delicious par 3 with a small green with internal movement. On one of my first visits there I came up behind a group of three women. I was on the fourth fairway and watching their tee shots. One hit a short iron which stopped on the green and the second player, a much older woman, hit was probably a five wood along the ground and got it nearly as close. Many way to play links golf there are.
The sixth is called Braid's choice on the card and it is a dogleg left which would be reachable in two for many players if you can cling to the left side of the fairway. There's a small water course there, though. I think there's a trap guarding the right of the green. It's a terrific hole with the potential of risk/reward for those who hit the ball a reasonable distance
The 7th is a brute of a par 3. I don't know what the elevation is exactly but for the ordinary player it's a most difficult green to hold since you are not hitting a lofted club.
The numbering of the remainder of the holes escapes me at the moment, but I think the 9th is another cracker of a par 3 that runs along the boundary fence. It used to be a six iron for me but it might be a 3 wood now.
A hole whose number escapes me but which is called Mary's Cottage is the last of the par fives and it goes up and over a rise in the ground and has a green tucked left and near the out of bounds. For such a short and unknown course I think Reay has a superb set of three par fives. None are boring and every present opportunities and hazards.
The sixteenth hole is named the Viking's Grave and I admit that it why I went there in the first place. The hole itself may be most the lackluster of all 18, but it's a very intriguing name.
Several of the par fours run away from you, two of them to blind greens. Lot of quirk which indicates the golf at Reay is very much found and not manufactured.
Conditioning can be an issue. When I played there in 2013 some of the greens had virtually no grass on them at all. I would classify Ray's conditioning as a step below rustic verging on primitive.
All in all, I highly recommend it. Pace of play is never a problem as yours is likely to be the only group there. Another time when I played and signed the guest book the only other players were singletons like myself and one was from London and the other from Australia. Three players, three continents virtually spanning the world.