HEAVY METAL & TITANIUM; EX-GLAM ROCKER NOW SCHOLL CANYON'S PRO.

Byline: Dave Shelburne Daily News Staff Writer

Aerosmith and Kiss were holding the fort against disco, and the Pasadena-based garage band Van Halen was on the rise in the mid-1970s when teen-aged Ted Eleftheriou was approached by the teaching pro on Eleftheriou's hometown golf course in Fitchburg, Mass.

``He showed me his weekly paycheck for $111 and told me that was the kind of money I could be making if I wanted to go into the golf-teaching business,'' Eleftheriou recalls.

``I told myself, `Man, that's one job I'm never going to do.' Now, sure enough, here I am.''

Here he is. But Eleftheriou, 36, a PGA Class-A professional and head instructor at Glendale's Scholl Canyon Golf Course, hardly arrived from the traditional direction.

While many of his practice-range peers were preparing for their instructional future by working an apprenticeship selling or cleaning clubs in a pro shop, Eleftheriou and his Massachusetts mates were strutting stages in snakeskin pants and pirate boots, members in good standing of the heavy-metal generation.

``We were glam rock,'' said Eleftheriou, who played guitar and screeched the vocals for Oracle and, until 1988, the Christian metal band, Hell No! ``There was lots of hair spray - the wilder the look the better.''

These days, the hair is too short to spray for Eleftheriou, who resembled Kiss' Gene Simmons in mufti during the glam-rock days.

Times change. His schoolhood chums, who accompanied him west in 1986 in two vans stuffed with leather, musical equipment and mascara, got homesick and headed back to Fitchburg.

Eleftheriou stuck, eventually drifting into the film industry, where he produced commercials and videos. One day, his cameraman suggested a round of golf and Eleftheriou discovered - after having not touched a club for five years - that he still was hooked on the game he first played as an 8-year-old.

`I got the bug again,'' he said.

Eleftheriou started working hard on his golf, and he listened as hard as he practiced, taking lessons from some of the best instructors - working with Greg McHatton at Vista Valencia and spending nearly two years with legendary golf guru Mac O'Grady.

After passing his player-ability test, he started teaching at Knollwood Country Club, where head pro Gary Finneran helped by introducing him to top instructors. Initially, Eleftheriou's clientele came from his rock and film background. Eddie Van Halen and David Lee Roth of Van Halen were early students. So was Brian Hitt, the drummer for REO Speedwagon.

Eventually, Eleftheriou's teaching skills started attracting rising stars from the world of junior golf. Notre Dame High School standout Anne Lee took lessons from Eleftheriou at Knollwood, then stayed with him when former Knollwood general manager Brian Bode moved to Scholl Canyon and made Eleftheriou his head professional.

``I stuck with him because he gives me full support in my game,'' said Lee, who is the No. 26th ranked junior girl in the nation. ``He emphasizes having a lot of confidence and he gives me a lot of confidence.''

Elefterhiou, who estimates he has earned ``about $17'' in royalties off the few records his band cut, says timing is everything in music success.

Finneran says caring means as much in teaching success and gives Eleftheriou high grades there.

``I'm sure he's become a successful teacher because he's so personable and friendly,'' Finneran said. ``You've got to be good at what you do, but how you treat people is a big part of it. He treats people with respect.''

Apparently, a Def Leppard can't change his spots, with or without the mascara.

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PHOTO (1--2--Color) Ted Eleftheriou's transition from heavy metal to golf pro was difficult only for his barber.

Special to the Daily News