ALICE COOPER - LINING UP THE SHOTS
How Alice Cooper’s passion for golf cured his alcohol addiction and saved him from the bunker.
By Jeff Alexander

On the face of it, Alice Cooper isn’t the sort of person a golf club would be keen to add to its list of members. Perhaps it’s the sinister make-up, the garish dress sense, the blood, guillotines or maybe just the snaring, foreboding vocals that have shaken the sensibilities of even the most hardened lover of rock ‘n’ roll.

And yet, while the 70-year-old’s love of the ghoulish and peculiar has decorated a career going all the way back to the 1960s, it turns out it’s all for show. Contained in Cooper’s bag of holiday essentials, you’ll not find a carcass, leather, lace, nor a coiled python, but more likely a set of golf clubs and a Callaway hat.

“I think people are always a bit shocked when they see me on the course,” admits the Detroit-born rocker, born Vincent Damon Furnier (which immediately begins to make him sound rather less intimidating). “It’s like I’m out of context; I think they’re expecting me to pull out a microphone at any moment and start parading around with it. But this is me.  This is a really big side of who I am.”

Cooper first chanced upon the game of golf back in the 1970s and lists John Daly, Vijay Singh and Davis Love as three pros who, over the years, have really helped his technique and, subsequently, his game. Nowadays, he happily resigns himself to the game’s addictive qualities. “I’m totally hooked,” he says, “and that’s fine because compared to the addictions I used to carry around with me, it’s definitely the healthiest!”

Indeed, for a man who used to routinely make his way through a bottle of whiskey each day, golf’s ability to draw him in is ultimately what saved him. “I look at rock ‘n’ rock and realize everything that goes with it dominated the first half of my life; so now I’m letting golf do the same thing with the second half of my life,” he laughs.

In fairness, Cooper has slowed down, both on stage and when preparing to tee off, even when the lure to keep going is so great. “For me, golf is very much like music in that it always invites you to go to that step further. You can play it safe, and there are many musicians that do, but ultimately you know if you’re brave you can take it a step further. It’s the difference between being comfortable and being fulfilled.”

Fulfillment in music, these days, largely begins and ends with live shows. Cooper’s 2017 album Paranormal was a first since 2011, and although in total he has 27 slabs of solid rock relevance to his name, his output has slowed with age. The other plus to being on the road versus recording is that any trip away from home will be designed to allow ample time for a trip to the local golf course, naturally. “That’s something I have to do,” he says. “I am 70 years old, and although I don’t play as much as I did 30 or 40 years ago, I still need to be out there four or five times a week, and checking out new places is always exciting. And I’m still playing off eight or nine, so something is sticking.”

While Cooper’s globetrotting allows him to play on any number of the world’s best courses, he admits two of his favorites are one relatively close to home – the Phoenix Country Club in Arizona, where he is a member, and the Muirfield Village course in Ohio. “The Muirfield course was designed by one of the greatest players of all-time, Jack Nicklaus, and it has everything in just the right proportions.

“I know golf is so much about being competitive, but you get those days when it’s just so nice to be outside, to have some peace, to think about things; and Muirfield is definitely one of those where it’s simply a place that’s nice to be found in.

“It’s also the most beautiful course I have ever played - it really just seems to fit my eye. It’s just one of those courses where every single shot you play is like looking at an amazing postcard.”

Cooper, whose 2007 book Golf Monster: My 12 Steps to Becoming a Golf Addict provided a rousing tribute to the game and documents how the sport saved him from his demons, enjoys honorary memberships at many courses across the world. So even mid-tour, he can always find a place to hide away while his road crew prepares things for the next live show.

“The King Kamehameha course in Hawaii is incredible, and I have other favorites in Germany and England. When I get the chance to actually go on holiday with my wife, it will always have to be somewhere that has a golf course adjacent to it. I just have to be able to play every day, and there is no way that you are going to get me to sit still and have some peace and quiet. I’m always on the move.

“It’s not all golf – I mean, I like to do other things in the day, maybe visit the local landmarks and the city or town that I am in at the time, but I’d say a lot of it is golf,” he laughs.

As for golf etiquette, you would imagine even this rather serene version of Alice Cooper must push his luck a little. He admits that while he tones down the mascara and eye shadow when stepping out on the course, there are some other aspects of his game that fall a bit further in line with the terrorizer image he has cultivated for himself. “Do I cheat? Hmm, well, I don’t like the word cheat. I’d rather say I work any advantage my way that I can.”

“And actually,” he continues, “I genuinely don’t know anybody who doesn’t cheat. I mean, I cheat, everybody cheats. But only when it’s for fun. I’ve played golf with Donald Trump. I won’t say any more than that!”

Cooper, who has played numerous celeb pro-am events and names Sergio Garcia and Phil Mickelson as two of the most likable partners he’s sauntered down the fairway with, works as a brand ambassador for Callaway and has appeared in numerous television commercials for the American sports company.

“It has been a nice relationship, and they have always treated me well,” says Cooper. “I don’t think they really knew what they were getting when they signed me up, but they certainly have the nicer side of me. We’ve been doing the whole thing for 25 years, so they’ve got used to me.”

Cooper hopes his relationship with the sport will continue to flourish. It has tamed the gothic devil that lurked inside, and he admits it still fuels his passion and interest because, in his own words, “no two shots are the same.”

“This sport owes me nothing – I wouldn’t be here without it,” he says. “Remember, my normal life before I took up golf was to wake up in the morning and open a can of beer; that’s how I started my day. Then, one day I had a beer, and then I threw up blood, and I thought, ‘Well, that’s probably not good.’

“My doctor asked me if I wanted to go and join my buddies. I had a drinking club called The Hollywood Vampires, which included Keith Moon, John Lennon, Harry Nilsson, all of the guys that you would expect to see there, all of the usual suspects.

“We would drink every night until it was last man standing. Every single one of those guys went down. John, of course, was a tragedy, but Harry and Keith and all of the guys that we drank with, Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, they were all excessive. Everyone died of excess.

“When I quit drinking nearly 40 years ago my excess became golf. I never thought it could replace it, but it did, from those early days of playing seven, eight, nine hours of golf a day. Do that, and it will keep you away from many demons, and so it goes, I’m here to talk about it. And that makes golf the best game in the world.”