The third West Seattle Golf Driving Range Public Meeting is set for tonight Wednesday, October 27 from 7:00pm - 8:30pm at the West Seattle Golf Course 4470 35th Ave. s.w.

There have been two previous meetings in which designs and ideas were presented, the last one on Sept. 16 which drew some angry responses and a large crowd of golfers and area residents. Our coverage of that meeting is here.

While there are numerous approaches to fitting a driving range into the existing property the plan offered in the September meeting was controversial because it called for a shortening of the current par 5, 9th hole by some 200 yards, making it a par 4 hole and the potential shortening of the 10th hole by some 40 yards.

Those plans were drawn as a response to the initial feedback Seattle Parks and its design team got from the August meeting.

Garrett Farrell, Project Manager for the Seattle Parks Department is planning on showing the updated plan, working drawings and cross sections of how the plan looks (largely to demonstrate netting height since a driving range requires nets) and will provide a kind of history of how the project has evolved since it was first proposed in the Golf Master Plan.

Todd Schoeder, the Golf Architect for the plan and a Principal with iCon Golf Studio said, "We have I think some really good changes with regard to the plan, some definite improvements, that I think meet all parties needs, that being the environmental, the golfers, the neighbors and we're really trying to match the character of the golf course as well."

The most recent iteration of the plan has been shared in advance with both Camp Long (whose northernmost trails were impacted in the initial plan) and the West Seattle Golf Club.

An alternative to a full driving range, an indoor computer driven golf instruction facility, was favored by some members of the Golf Club following the September meeting. Farrell said he has not seen any plans that show a facility like that would be financially feasible in terms of payback but indicated that something like that might be possible to be integrated into the full driving range plan. "Imagine doing some work on your swing in a computer assisted room like that then opening the garage door and being able to see your ball actually fly," he said.

The design process has been interactive with concerns addressed as the feedback has been received. Farrell in fact has personally called people who have contacted him in order to answer questions and clarify how elements of the plan have been developed. That kind of outreach and explanation will continue in tonight's meeting, "I'm hoping that we've been able to reach out to a good balance of those constituents and I'm expecting a pretty good attendance tonight."