STANFORD, Calif. – The No. 18-ranked and third-seeded Fighting Illini men's golf team jumped out to a strong start Monday at the NCAA Stanford Regional at Stanford Golf Course, closing the day with a four-stroke advantage behind a sensational NCAA postseason debut by 18-hole leader Max Herendeen.
All five members of the Fighting Illini lineup notched birdies on Hole 1, setting the tone for a strong round up and down the lineup. The Orange and Blue's four scorers combined for a 17-under 263 – with 25 birdies and just eight bogeys – to sit four shots in front of top-seeded Florida State and six shots ahead of host and fifth-seeded Stanford. No. 2 seed Ole Miss and fourth-seeded Texas A&M are tied for fourth at 271 (-9). The Illini's performance has helped the Orange and Blue build a 14-stroke edge over the sixth-place team, UCLA (-3), with an NCAA Championship berth on the line for the top five teams after 54 holes.
Herendeen, the Big Ten's Freshman of the Year, was nearly blemish free en route to a career-low score of 63 (-7). The Bellevue, Wash., native shot a 6-under 29 on the front nine, including three straight birdies on Nos. 7, 8 and 9. After the turn he moved to 8-under with back-to-back birdies on 14 and 15 before his lone bogey of the day on No. 17.
Herendeen's 63 is tied for the second-lowest individual round in program history, and it marks the lowest ever by an Illini in an NCAA Regional tournament, while matching Dylan Meyer (2017 Big Ten Championship) and Brian Campbell (2014 NCAA Championship) for the lowest by an Illini in any postseason event. Likewise, the Orange and Blue's team score of 263 is the second-lowest single round in Illini history - behind the 261 carded in last year's record-setting second round in the win at the Tiger Collegiate Invitational hosted by Missouri at The Club at Old Hawthorne. It also marks the best single round by the team in any postseason event in program history, moving past the 264 carded in Round 3 of the 2016 Big Ten Championship win at Victoria National in Newburgh, Ind.
Herendeen enters Round 2 two shots ahead of a group of four challengers – including teammates Jackson Buchanan and Tyler Goecke – hot on his heels in the individual race at 65 (-5).
Buchanan, the reigning Big Ten Golfer of the Year, and Goecke, a fifth-year senior transfer making his Illinois postseason debut, each carded seven birdies to offset a pair of bogeys. Buchanan's 65 matched his season-low round set in October at the Flyer Invitational, while Goecke's total eclipsed his previous best as an Illini and was one shot off his career-low score set as a senior in 2022-23 at Wright State.
Sophomore Ryan Voois, also seeing his first action in the NCAA postseason, rounded out the scoring for the Illini with an even-par 70 to sit in a tie for 31st. Senior Piercen Hunt finished his day with a 73 (+3) in a tie for 53rd in the 75-player field with 36 holes remaining.
Round 2 is set to tee off Tuesday beginning at 10:30 a.m. CT/8:30 a.m. PT. The Illini, paired with Florida State and Stanford, will be among the first to tee off of No. 1. Live scoring is available on Golfstat.
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