Clarendon Club
March 5, 2021
Fishing,Hunting,SCA Articles
A forgotten hunt club rises from the ashes. Clarendon Club is a great place to hunt, fish or simply relax and re-charge.
“Good shooting in scattered pines and sedge in afternoons. Asheville dogs unable to find birds in mornings. Birds plentiful but coveys scattered. Rain Sunday night but ground dry. Fox race Monday night. Deer seen in Pines northeast of lodge. 1 owl.”
– December 26th, 1931
It’s one of the earliest entries in the Clarendon Club logbook. The archive still sits on an ancient cypress coffee table in the club’s office, where Trey and Whitney Phillips are bringing a classic old Southern hunt club back to life.
90 years ago, a group of sportsmen agreed to build a private hunting lodge near the banks of the Santee River in the South Carolina Lowcountry. As evidenced by the records, photos and trophies regaling the walls, a grand old time was had by all.
“If you look through the records, you see they hunted deer, quail, rabbits…even owls,” Whitney said with a smile. “There weren’t really any regulations back then.”
When the Santee dam was completed in 1941 as part of the rural electrification program, much of the original club land lay under water. The rest became part of The Santee National Wildlife Refuge.
However, the club was grandfathered in and members were allowed to hunt any of their original property that was still accessible.
Unfortunately, the clubhouse burned to the ground in the late 60’s. But shortly after, Ralph Cuthbertson, a frequent visitor and nearby landowner, rebuilt the structure. By 1974 the Clarendon Club was up and running again.
Ralph’s wife and daughters ran the day-to-day operations of the club, while his sons moved to Greenville to work with an aviation company. There, they began flying clients down to the remote getaway, entertaining them with superb hunting, fishing and Southern hospitality.
“Eventually, the Cuthbertsons all moved back to the Upstate,” Whitney continued. “But there are still a lot of families around here who were involved in some way with Clarendon Club, and they share stories about their times here.
“Like using flashlights to guide the airplanes in for night arrivals on the grass landing strip. One of the more famous guests was Hugh Hefner. He made several visits.”
After the Cuthbertsons’ departure, there was a short-term owner of the lodge, Chris Carson, a builder from nearby Daniel Island. Chris did a lot of the construction, including a pavilion. But still, the club was nothing like it had been in the 30s and 40s.
Then, in 2018, it was all purchased by Trey and Whitney. Along with raising two kids, the Phillips have been putting their energy into returning the property to its glory days as a classic sportsman’s getaway. Those activities include deer and duck hunting, bass fishing in their stocked ponds, and trophy striper, catfish, crappie and bass fishing in nearby Lake Marion.
For deer hunters, there are plenty of stands and blinds on large, food plots surrounded by hardwood swamps and stands of pine. Overall, the mixed habitat is ideal for the plentiful whitetails, including big-racked bucks.
If duck hunting is in your blood, the impoundments of flooded corn, sorghum and millet draw most all the eastern flyway species, including blue- and green-winged teal, wigeons, mallards, pintails, shovelers and ring-necks.
Clarendon Club can also arrange golf packages and upland bird hunts for individuals or large groups. A lot of corporations have found the club to be an ideal business retreat. It’s also becoming a popular wedding venue.
“We want people to enjoy whatever their favorite outdoors activity happens to be,” Whitney said. “Whether its hunting, fishing, skeet shooting…we may not offer it every day, but we can make it happen. We’re very flexible.
“Whether it’s a day hunt for deer or a large group wanting the red carpet, we can oblige.”