Tanner started golfing at the age of 11 when his grandfather gave him his first set of clubs alongside a Tiger Woods 1997 Masters VHS tape. Tanner and his grandfather played hundreds of rounds together, and eventually taught his two younger brothers. The three brothers grew up on 25 acres in Kansas where they cut their backyard's long grass into numerous golf greens.

Tanner played high school golf earning various awards and a scholarship to Baker University where he competed at the varsity level all four years in the NAIA conference. At the time, Baker University shared the same home course as Kansas University, which was also Gary Woodland's collegiate course.

Tanner initially had the idea of a tilting driving range platform during his bachelor's degree entrepreneurship business class. Tanner earned his Masters in Business Administration from Baker University in 2012, and has held various finance positions over the course of his career.

Tanner enjoys all sports, especially the KC Chiefs, and KU Jayhawks. When not golfing, working, or sleeping, Tanner enjoys cooking, boating, traveling, and is particularly fond of pit bulls.