A Country Club Like No Other

In the middle of nowhere but close to everywhere

Story and photos by Tom Poland

Harold’s Country Club proclaims it is “in the middle of nowhere but close to everywhere.” That’s true. Where, exactly, might you find this legendary haunt? In Yemassee, South Carolina, off Highway 21 at 97 Highway, 17A. It’s close by the Colleton and Jasper County line as well. If you get the feeling this town is a crossroads, well, that is the case. Some, in fact, consider Yemassee the heart of the Lowcountry.

And the heart of the Lowcountry enjoys eminence. Yemassee claims the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Auldbrass, Old Sheldon Church ruins, Frampton Plantation, and a country club like no other. You won’t need clubs; you won’t need a caddy but you might pick up a cue stick. And for sure, a fork, for Harold’s Country Club resides in the heart of locals who love a fine meal at an American South original.

I went to see it. I pulled up in front of a sign that’s seen its share of Lowcountry sunlight, sayeth its faded, yellowed plastic. Nonetheless it’s colorful. A grill full of ribs, chicken and a huge steak fill one side, a frosty mug of beer the other.

In the middle is a graphic: a circle around a bespectacled Harold and the words, “Harold’s Country Club … Bar & Grille, Est. 1973.” The likeness of Harold Peeples makes the sign. Entering, I took stock of the place. At the right, front corner of the building stands an old Fire Chief gas pump. Gives the place character. I walked up to the front glass door with a sky blue paper note stuck to the glass: “Benton’s Fresh Boiled Peanuts.” Yep, you could smell salt in the air.

Over between the restrooms, a digital jukebox, TouchTunes, sat idle. Nearby, two dispensers of paper towels sat on a camouflage-covered table. I suspect come October’s cool blue evenings, fluorescent orange deer hunters love this eatery off the beaten path.

Rules caught my eye. “You are required to pay for every steak you order.” In the billiard area—excuse me, poolroom—a list served notice that improper behavior would not be tolerated. A few admonitions: “No Smoking.” “No Hitting Sticks on Tables.” “No Sitting on Pool Tables.” And then, in lowercase, “follow the rules or you will be barred from playing pool.”

On the wall at the bar’s end, some advice: “Win or lose, stick with booze.” At 3:30 p.m., a cast of characters sat around the bar. “Like a scene from Andy of Mayberry,” I mused. Harold’s has to be an oasis to locals. Yemassee is twenty-one miles from Beaufort as the crow flies, eighteen from Walterboro. On the flatscreen at the end of the bar, a NASCAR race was underway. A black-and-white car flirted with the wall. No one paid it any mind. At the bar’s opposite end, several plastic parrots suspended from the ceiling watched the race. Well, they appeared to.

A boy wearing a red-and-black athletic shirt, no. 15, sat at the bar. I consider Harold’s a family-friendly place. That doesn’t preclude a movie poster in the pool room that features a scantily clad woman with a pair of fabulous legs. The gams promote Bordello of Blood, “Where customers come in, but they don’t come out.” Well, no worries, you’ll come out of Harold’s Country Club in good shape, but know that when you walk in you are stepping in high cotton. A touch of fame attends this venerable old way station. Celebrities and celebrity makers have been here. Harold left us in 2003, but in his day, he had a special friendship with movie mogul Joel Silver, who owns nearby Auldbrass Plantation of Frank Lloyd Wright fame. Joel often stopped by on Sundays to have coffee with Harold.

In 1994, Dennis Hopper transformed Harold’s into a biker’s bar for his movie Chasers. The print world loves the place, too. Coastal Living, Esquire, and Southern Living magazines have all covered Harold’s. Garden & Gun called it one of the best dive bars in the South. So, dive right in.

A Bit of History

How did all this come about? Permit me a bit of history—back story, you could say. The family-run business was long a gathering place for the community. What would become Harold’s Country Cub began in the 1930s as a Chevrolet dealership. Harold Peeples bought what had become an old-fashioned garage and gas station in 1973. In