ROSEMONT, Ill. – Three Fighting Illini men’s golfers were recognized by the Big Ten on Thursday when senior Jackson Buchanan, sophomore Max Herendeen, and junior Ryan Voois were named to the conference’s 2024-25 Preseason Honors list.
The trio return to the Fighting Illini after All-America seasons in 2023-24 in which they helped the Orange and Blue capture six stroke play titles. The Illini’s stable of wins included the NCAA Stanford Regional title and first place in Stroke Play at the NCAA Championship. The latter qualified the Illini for the program’s ninth NCAA match play berth, tied for the most in the nation since the current championship format was adopted in 2009.
The preseason recognitions are the latest for the Illini after Buchanan and Herendeen were also recognized earlier this month with Preseason All-America nods from Golfweek and Golf Channel and were both named to the Haskins Award Fall Watch List.
Buchanan enters his senior season ranked No. 6 in the initial PGA TOUR University Class of 2025 rankings released July 31. He was tabbed as the 2024 Big Ten Men’s Golfer of the Year and was also a unanimous first team All-Big Ten selection last season, while collecting GCAA All-America third team honors. He competed in all 13 of the team’s stroke play events last year and closed the season five hundredths of a point (two total strokes) behind Herendeen with the Illini’s second-best stroke average of 70.92. Buchanan was runner-up at the Big Ten Championship after claiming medalist honors at a team-leading two events – the Purdue Fall Invitational and the Duck Invitational – during the regular season. Overall, Buchanan posted a team-most eight top-10 finishes. He tied for the team lead with 12 sub-70 rounds on the year and ranked second on the squad with 20 rounds of par or better.
Over the summer, Buchanan competed in the U.S. Open and at the PGA Tour’s John Deere Classic, in addition to his appearance on the Korn Ferry Tour at the Memorial Health Championship and a run to the semifinal round of match play at the U.S. Amateur.
As a true freshman last season, Herendeen became just the fourth freshman in Illinois history to earn All-America honors from the GCAA (second team), and the first to be named to the second team or better. He played in every event in the Fighting Illini lineup and opened…
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