Reay Golf Club: Complete Guide to a links on the edge of Scotland

Reay Golf Club feels like a place you have to earn the right to play. 

This is the most northerly 18-hole links course on the British mainland. That fact should not simply be dismissed as a line of trivia because it also helps to explain so much of the club’s character. Reay Golf Club is not somewhere you stumble upon, or pass by casually. It sits on one of the most remote stretches of coastline in the UK, shaped by weather, history, community and the sea.

So by the time you reach this part of northern Scotland, the miles matter, the journey matter. It becomes part of the experience itself. We came to Reay as part of a wonderful, memorable North Coast 500 golf trip (you can read our review of the whole experience by clicking here.) With the white sand of Sandside Bay Beach and its beautiful dunes providing a fitting backdrop, I turned off the NC500 and into Reay Golf Club where Fred Groves was waiting to meet me. 

Fred felt like the perfect guide, someone, I would later reflect, beautifully embodies the spirit of Reay Golf Club. He moved here from London for three months of work at nearby Dounreay. That was 56 years ago. The fact he is still here, with an unmistakable London accent, still at the heart of the community and still at the heart of the club, says everything you need to know about this golf club. But more on that a little later. 

The enduring appeal of Reay Golf Club extends well beyond the scorecard. It lies in the journey required to get there, in the beauty of its setting, and, having seen this golf course close during the middle of the last century, in the determination of a small community to ensure that never happens again. For golfers travelling the NC500, that makes Reay Golf Club more than just another stop along the way. It is a reminder that a golf course does not always have to overwhelm you with distance or challenge to leave an impression. Some places go much deeper.

Reay Golf Club: key facts

What is Reay Golf Club?

Reay Golf Club is an 18-hole links course in the village of Reay, near Thurso. It is best known for being the most northerly 18-hole links course on the British mainland, a distinction that gives it a very particular sense of place. You will not find manicured resort golf at Reay Golf Club. This is a  traditional links, rooted in its landscape and sustained by its community. The course sits close to the sea, among the dunes, with the wind and open coastal terrain making the experience.

Reay Golf Club dates back to 1893, when it was originally established as a 12-hole course. That layout remained in play until 1940, with James Braid visiting in 1933 and recommending that the course be extended to 18 holes. The club was forced to close in the 1940s, but reopened in the early 1960s, with a new clubhouse opening in 1963. Today, Reay Golf Club is a place of history, character and genuine identity, one that offers those on an NC500 golf trip a truly memorable experience of Scottish links golf, not least because of where it is and what it represents.

Where is Reay Golf Club?

Reay Golf Club sits on Scotland’s north coast, 12 miles west of Thurso and some 45 minutes from John O’Groats. Reay is not a course you are likely to play by accident. It is a course you reach because you have decided to keep going, beyond the more familiar golfing landmarks, into a part of Scotland where the journey becomes part of the experience. Its location, on the North Coast 500 road trip, means it can be paired with other Highland and NC500 golf courses such as Durness, Wick, Brora, Golspie, Tain and even Royal Dornoch itself.

Our experience of playing Reay Golf Club

We arrived at Reay during our NC500 golf trip with a genuine sense of curiosity as to what we would find at Scotland’s most northerly links. Reay Golf Club is not somewhere that tries to sell itself through grandeur. It doesn’t have the scale of Royal Dornoch, the drama of Durness or the polish of some better-known Scottish links. Its appeal is quieter and more unassuming than that.

The round itself builds nicely. After a demanding opening, Reay begins to stretch its legs as it moves towards the sea. The run of holes from the 3rd to the 7th is comfortably the strongest sequence on the course, it’s a run of holes with views, character and a natural rhythm and it’s here, more than anywhere else, that Reay Golf Club feels like the journey north has been rewarded. There are quieter stretches too, and it would be wrong to pretend every hole leaves the same impression. But that is part of writing honestly about Reay Golf Club. This is not an overly manicured destination course. It is a proud and challenging links, maintained with limited resources, shaped by local effort and sustained by the people who care about it most.

By the end of our round, what stayed with us was not one single spectacular moment, but the feel of the whole place: the journey to get here, the coastal setting, the strong identity, and the knowledge that golf still exists here because enough people have decided it matters.

What makes Reay Golf Club special?

Reay Golf Club sits within an ecologically sensitive landscape, where rough grassland, dunes, burns, wildflowers, birds and wildlife all form part of the character of the place. That is no accident. The club’s own conservation efforts have ensured there is an awareness of the habitats running through and around this links. For golfers, that matters because it changes the way you see Reay.

The rough is not simply rough. The burns are not simply hazards. The wilder edges of the course are not just places to lose a ball. They are part of a living landscape that golf has had to learn to live alongside. That is why Reay’s charm is not perfection. It is character.  The best holes have obvious golfing appeal, but the wider experience is about something more subtle: playing somewhere that feels local, fragile, weather-shaped and real.

The history of Reay Golf Club

Reay Golf Club dates back to 1893, which gives this links a deeper history than its modest appearance might first suggest. When the club was originally established, Reay was not an 18-hole course. It began life as a 12-hole layout, serving as a treasured pastime for the local community. That original course continued in play until 1940, when shifting population patterns in the region led to a decline in membership and the club’s forced closure. The story did not end there, however. In the 1950s, the development of the Dounreay fast reactor brought a significant influx of people to the area and helped breathe new life into the local community. 

The Taylor family, owners of Sandside Estate, offered the golf section of the Dounreay Sports and Social Club the opportunity to lease the right to play on the Reay links, an offer they eagerly accepted. Led by Donald Carmichael, who was keen to restore the course he remembered from his youth, Reay Golf Club began to take shape again in the early 1960s. In 1963, with a new clubhouse built and a bar licence secured, the club was back. The club had found its feet again, helped up by the people here, and well on its way to becoming a place where golf and village life sit together. One of the most important influences on Reay Golf Club is James Braid, the five-time Open Champion. It was his belief, when he visited, that Reay should be extended to 18 holes and his connection remains an important part of the club’s identity today, with Reay now standing as the most northerly course on the James Braid Highland Golf Trail.

More recently, the club’s community spirit was underlined again in 2017, when members and volunteers secured ownership of the course by fundraising. That detail feels important. Reay has not simply survived because of geography, history or nostalgia. It has survived because, at key moments, people have stepped forward and decided it was worth saving. More than 130 years after golf first took root here, Reay Golf Club remains a historic links with a story shaped by change, revival and local determination. It places the club within the wider story of Highland golf, but it also underlines its own distinct identity: a course kept alive in a part of Scotland where nothing feels accidental, and everything has had to be earned.

The course: where Reay Golf Club is at its best

Reay Golf Club does not give you much time to settle. The opening hole is a 235 yard par-3 from the back tees, which is a fairly uncompromising way to begin any round. Then comes the 2nd, a 428 yard par-4 with out-of-bounds all down the left. So while Reay Golf Club may feel modest in scale on the scorecard, your golf is tested from the off. 

But the course really begins to come alive from the 4th tee. The run from through to the 7th is the strongest stretch on the course, a sequence of holes that moves beautifully through the landscape and flirts with the ocean. The views open up, the land has more interest, and the round starts to carry that unmistakable feeling of golf being played somewhere properly connected to the coast. There are some long, demanding holes, some excellent short ones, greens within touching distance of the beach, sea air, wonderful dune-scapes and changing views, all of which combine to give Reay its strongest golfing identity. 

Beyond that sequence, Reay becomes steadier in places, but never loses its sense of place. Its best qualities are found in its naturalness, openness, exposure to the elements. That is also why the news that Mackenzie & Ebert have been commissioned to look at possible improvements feels interesting. Reay does not need to become something else. Its strength lies in its setting, history and authenticity. But there is potential here, particularly if future changes can strengthen the layout while preserving the character that makes it feel so rooted in this place.

A golf club at the heart of the village

To really understand Reay Golf Club, it helps to spend a little time around the clubhouse. It is not just the place where golfers sign in, change shoes or talk through the putts they should have made. It is part of the social fabric of Reay itself. As the only licensed premises in the village, the clubhouse has a role that stretches well beyond golf. It is somewhere for members, visitors, locals and non-golfers too and adds to the sense this is a place at the heart of the community. 

And that is not a slogan here. It is practical, visible and necessary. Reay Golf Club has one full-time greenkeeper, one part-time labourer and a team of member volunteers who give their time to shape greens, cut fairways, dig holes and simply do the hundreds of small jobs that allow a remote links like this to keep going. Fred, who was there to greet me on my arrival, came to the area not long after the club had begun its second life, following its re-establishment in the early 1960s. He has seen Reay Golf Club grow, adapt and endure. He is not simply a member who lends a hand. He is part of the living memory of the place. That matters because Reay is not sustained by luxury, reputation or passing traffic. It is sustained by people who have chosen to make themselves useful, year after year. People who understand that keeping a course alive here means more than keeping fairways cut and greens watered. It means preserving a place where the village can gather, visitors can be welcomed, and golf can continue to belong. 

Reay Golf Club: the verdict 

Reay Golf Club is not a course that needs to be exaggerated. Its appeal is quieter than that. 

It sits in its village, carries its history, leans into its landscape and asks you to understand it on its own terms. There are more famous courses on an NC500 golf trip, more dramatic courses, more polished courses but Reay gives you something different. It gives you the feeling of having gone somewhere of significance. That may sound simple but it matters. The journey north, the first sight of the course, the challenge of the opening holes, the excellent run from the 4th to the 7th, the clubhouse, the volunteers, the James Braid connection and the knowledge that this place has been kept alive by people who care, all combine to give Reay Golf Club its meaning.

And perhaps that history matters more here than it might elsewhere. This is a club that knows what it is like to close. It has lived through decline, revival and renewal. That memory seems to shape the way Reay looks at its future, and perhaps helps explain why its members work so hard to keep it going. It is also why visiting clubs like this matters. Not because it needs to be dressed up as something it is not. But because it is part of the fabric of golf in a place where the game still depends on local commitment, visitor support and the simple belief that a course is worth preserving. You may not leave Reay Golf Club and put at the very top of your list of Scotland’s  greatest links but I guarantee you will leave with something more grounded and, in some ways, more valuable: an appreciation for a club that belongs deeply to its place. And on the NC500, where the road itself is so often the story, that feels reason enough to stop. Make sure you do.

*To book a tee time at Reay Golf Club or for more information, visit ReayGolfClub.com

Reay Golf Club Scorecard

Reay Golf Club Course Map

Reay Golf Club: Frequently asked question (FAQs)

Where is Reay Golf Club?

Reay Golf Club is located in the village of Reay, around 12 miles west of Thurso and a short drive from Dounreay. It sits on one of the quieter stretches of the NC500 route.

Is Reay Golf Club an 18-hole course?

Yes. Reay Golf Club is an 18-hole links course. It originally began life as a 12-hole course in 1893, before later becoming the 18-hole layout played today.

Is Reay Golf Club the most northerly 18-hole links course on the British mainland?

Yes. Reay Golf Club describes itself as the most northerly 18-hole links course on the British mainland, which is one of the distinctions that makes it such an interesting stop for golfers travelling in the north of Scotland.

Who designed Reay Golf Club?

Reay Golf Club has evolved over time. The original course dates back to 1893, while James Braid visited in 1933 and recommended that the course should be extended to 18 holes. His influence remains an important part of the club’s story.

Is Reay Golf Club part of the James Braid Highland Golf Trail?

Yes. Reay Golf Club is the most northerly course on the James Braid Highland Golf Trail.

Can visitors play Reay Golf Club?

Yes, visitors can play Reay Golf Club. It is best to check directly with the club for current visitor information, green fees, tee times and seasonal availability.

What are Reay Golf Club green fees?

Green fees can change by season, so golfers should check the official Reay Golf Club website or contact the club directly for the latest visitor rates.

What is Reay Golf Club like to play?

Reay is a traditional links with an exposed setting, natural terrain and several excellent holes close to the sea. The course is not long by modern standards, but the wind, opening holes and variety give it plenty of interest.

What is the best stretch of holes at Reay Golf Club?

For us, the best stretch is from the 3rd to the 7th. This is where the course really comes alive, with the holes moving through more interesting land and closer to the coastline.

Does Reay Golf Club have a clubhouse?

Yes. Reay Golf Club has a clubhouse, and it plays an important role in village life. It is also the only licensed premises in Reay, making it a social hub for golfers and non-golfers alike.

Is Reay Golf Club on the NC500?

Yes. Reay Golf Club is well placed for golfers travelling the North Coast 500, particularly those looking to add traditional local golf experiences alongside better-known Highland courses.

Is Reay Golf Club worth playing on an NC500 golf trip?

Yes. Reay Golf Club is worth playing as part of an NC500 golf trip, especially if you enjoy historic community clubs, traditional links golf and courses with a strong sense of place.