Senior Athlete Spotlight: Sebastian Lanz

When Sebastian Lanz was in first grade playing T-Ball, all he wanted to do was practice his baseball swing. It was then that Lanz was first brought to the range at the Biltmore and introduced to the sport of golf. “The first swing I took, I felt like I could play it for the rest of my life,” Lanz recalls. It is a swing that Head Varsity Boys Golf Coach, Jeff Rose, acknowledges as one of the smoothest that he has seen. In the years since that first day on the range, Lanz has enjoyed both playing with his father and sister, as well as growing through the Palmer Trinity Golf program.

Lanz has been a member of the Varsity Boys Golf team since he was in eighth grade. While he has noticed his swing speed, control, and distance improve tremendously, the biggest difference to adjusting to the Varsity game was mental. “Being able to control your mentality is very important since you are playing 18 holes without a team alongside you, unlike in other sports.” However, despite not playing alongside his team from hole to hole, Lanz easily bonds with the other members of the team, noting he has been in their shoes and tries to ensure that there is comfort and fun in the daily aspects of golf.

Lanz is excited to play for Rose, who returned after a few years away from the game. “He is an amazing asset because he understands the whole team better than anybody else. He knows when to push us and when to calm us during tournaments,” Lanz notes of Rose. Rose is equally proud to work with Lanz, a player he refers to as respectful and responsible as both a student-athlete and a human. “He is, and always will be, a perfect example for current and future members of our golf program of exactly what a PTS golfer should strive to become,” Rose states, noting specifically his character and how he leads by example.

Another asset provided to the Varsity Golf teams for the first time this year is Palmer Trinity’s partnership with the Biltmore that allows our Varsity teams to attend two training sessions a week with a golf pro. Lanz believes that the feedback they are receiving from the coaching staff there has been instrumental in improving the quality of both competition and practice along with the team’s mentality.

Sports have become a huge part of Lanz’s life even off the course and the range. He enjoys watching all kinds of sports and looks forward to a career in Sports Broadcasting, which he hopes to study at LSU, Ole Miss, or the University of Alabama. Lanz has also been impactful in our community, volunteering at Bridge to Hope, First Tee, and Living Instruments for Others where he helped build an aqueduct for a remote village in the Dominican Republic. Lanz is quick to point out that his favorite food is fondue, as it reminds him of traveling to see his family in Switzerland. His favorite movie is Top Gun: Maverick, favorite band is the Bee Gees and fun fact is the he can easily pick up accents.

Be sure to come out and support Sebastian and the rest of the Varsity Boys Golf team as they prepare for the road to state competition. The team will also be honored for Senior Day on Friday, October 13^th.

Go Falcons!