SAUCIER, Miss. – The No. 18 Fighting Illini men's golf team carded a season-best round of 272 (-16) on Monday, tied for the lowest team round of the tournament, to move up the leaderboard into a third-place finish against a strong field at the Fallen Oak Collegiate Invitational at Fallen Oak at Beau Rivage Resort.
The Orange and Blue recorded a three-round total of 835 (-29) and finished three strokes behind co-champs, No. 9 LSU and No. 20 Alabama, while pulling away from fifth-ranked Arkansas (-18) in fourth place and No. 7-ranked Ole Miss (-15) in fifth place.
The Illini's final-round surge was led by matching rounds of 6-under 66 from junior Max Herendeen and sophomore Trey Marrion who finished tied for second and tied for seventh, respectively.
Herendeen's final round tally and his 54-hole total of 204 (-12) both marked season bests. He has now posted top-five finishes in three of the Illini's four fall tournaments to open the 2025-26 season and has 11 top-five finishes in his collegiate career.
Marrion jumped 19 spots up the leaderboard with his career-low round and tallied a three-round total of 209 (-7) for his fourth career top-10 finish.
Junior Dane Huddleston and senior Ryan Voois rounded out the scoring for the Illini on Day 3, each carding 2-under 70s. Huddleston finished T9 to record his first top-10 finish as an Illini, while his total of 210 (-6) marked a season best. Voois tied for 27th with a three-round tally of 215 (-1), one stroke ahead of sophomore Freddie Turnell in a tie for 34th.
Freshman Dujuan Snyman, competing as an individual, tied for 54th in the 81-player field with a 221 (+5).
LSU's Gunnlaugur Arni Sveinsson (-13) took home medalist honors, edging Herendeen and Alabama's William Jennings by a single stroke.
The third-place showing gives the Illini four top-five team finishes in as many tournaments during the fall slate and pushes the team's head-to-head record to 49-6-0 (.891).
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The Fighting Illini are scheduled to return to competition when the spring schedule officially opens, Feb. 16-17, at the Hal Williams Collegiate hosted in Mobile, Ala.
