Herendeen Named to GCAA All-Freshman Team

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Fighting Illini men’s golfer Max Herendeen has been selected as one of five first-year players nationally on the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA ) All-Freshman Team.

Herendeen, who has garnered GCAA PING All-Midwest Region honors and was a unanimous selection as the Big Ten Freshman of the Year and first team All-Big Ten, is coming off a sensational postseason run. The Bellevue, Washington, native capped his first collegiate campaign by winning the NCAA Stanford Regional and finishing tied for second in stroke play at the NCAA Division I Championship. Herendeen also captured a runaway victory in his match during the NCAA Championship match play quarterfinals, defeating Georgia Tech’s Carson Kim, 5&4.

Herendeen played in every event in the Fighting Illini lineup this season and opened the year with a runner-up finish (via playoff for medalist honors) at the Sahalee Players Championship in his collegiate debut. He led the team with a stroke average of 70.87, the 10^th-best single-season mark in program history and the best average ever recorded by an Illini freshman, surpassing Adrien Dumont de Chassart’s mark of 71.39 set by in 2018-19. Herendeen led the team with 10 tournaments as Illinois’ No. 1 or No. 2 finisher and paced the Illini with top-20 finishes in 12 of 13 stroke play events. He ended the year with a team-most 24 rounds of par or better and tied for the team lead with 12 rounds in the 60s.

Herendeen is joined on the 2024 GCAA All-Freshman Team by Ryder Cowan (Oklahoma), Wenyi Ding (Arizona State), Jackson Koivun (Auburn), and Jack Turner (Florida).