HONORS & AWARDS 

• U.S. Elite Amateur Program Selection (2025)
• GCAA PING All-America Honorable Mention (2025)
• GCAA PING All-America Second Team (2024)
• Golfweek All-America Honorable Mention (2025)
• Golfweek All-America Second Team (2024)
• NCAA All-Championship Team - Top-15 finisher at NCAA Championship (2024)
• Two-Time All-Big Ten First Team (2024, 2025)
• Two-Time GCAA PING All-Midwest Region (2024, 2025)
• Big Ten Freshman of the Year (2024)
• GCAA All-Freshman Team (2024)
• Arnold Palmer Cup - Team USA (2025)
• GCAA All-America Scholar (2025)
• CSC Academic All-District (2025)
• Spring Academic All-Big Ten (2025)

Junior - 2025-26

• Fred Haskins Award Preseason Watch List
• Preseason Golfweek All-American
• Preseason Big Ten Men's Golfers to Watch List

SOPHOMORE - 2024-25

• Named All-America Honorable Mention by both the GCAA and Golfweek
• Unanimous First Team All-Big Ten selection
• Earned second consecutive GCAA PING All-Midwest Region selection
• Played in the lineup in all 14 stroke play tournaments
• Led the team with a stroke average of 70.84, the 10th-best mark in program history
• Ranked second on the team and third in the Big Ten overall, and first among the league's underclassmen at No. 38 in the NCAA Division I men's golf player rankings
• Reached as high as No. 24 in the WAGR
• Advanced to the final round of the 2025 NCAA Championship as one of the top nine individuals on a non-advancing team and finished 27th with a 72-hole score of 2-over 290 (68-76-73-73).  
• Posted a T11 finish to help lead the Illini to a share of the team title at the NCAA Urbana Regional (May 12-14) with a score of 4-under 209 (71-71-67)
• Tied his career-low with an opening round of 63 (-7) at the Big Ten Championship at Baltimore Country Club, tying the B1G record for Round 1 of a conference championship, and finishing one shot off the course record
• Shot a season-best tournament score of 12-under 204 (66-69-69) to tie for the lead at the Augusta Haskins Award Invitational (April 5-6) before finishing second via playoff for medalist honors
• Ranked second on the team with six top-10 finishes
• Opened the year with ninth place at the Folds of Honor Collegiate (Sept. 9-11)
• Posted a T4 at the Fallen Oak Collegiate (Oct. 19-21) with a 4-under 212 (75-70-67)
• Recorded a T8 finish to help Illinois to the team win at the Steelwood Collegiate InvitatIonal (Oct. 26-27) with a 7-under 209 (70-73-66)
• Tied for fifth in Illinois win at the Memphis Intercollegiate with a final score of 3-over 219 (71-73-75)
• Tied for team lead with 14 rounds in the 60s and boasted two of the teams's lowest individual rounds of the season (63) in the final round of the John A. Burns Intercollegiate and the opening round of the Big Ten Championship
• Closed as one of the Illini’s top-three finishers all 14 team stroke-play events, the best mark on the team

FRESHMAN - 2023-24

• Recognized as a GCAA PING All-American (second team), becoming just the fourth freshman in Illinois history to hear All-America honors from the GCAA and the first to be named to the second team or better
• Named Golfweek All-American (second team)
• Earned NCAA All-Championship Team honors as a top-15 finisher (T2) in stroke play at the NCAA Championship
• Voted Big Ten Freshman of the Year and a unanimous selection First Team All-Big Ten
• Earned GCAA PING All-Midwest Region honors
• Played in the lineup in all 13 stroke play tournaments, plus match play at the Cypress Point Classic and the NCAA Championship
• Led the team with a stroke average of 70.87, the 10th-best single-season mark in program history and the best average ever recorded by an Illini freshman
• Finished tied for second, one shot off the national championship pace, in stroke play at the NCAA Championship
• Posted a runaway victory, 5&4, in his match during teh NCAA Championship Match Play quarterfinals vs. Georgia Tech
• Won his first collegiate at the NCAA Stanford Regional, leading the Illini to the team title with a 13-under 197 (63-68-66), shooting the lowest individual round of the season (63) for the Illini and tying for the lowest 54-hole tournament score on the year. 
• Finished as runner-up (via playoff for medalist honors) in his collegiate debut at the Sahalee Players Championship (Sept. 9-10) with a score of 5-under 211 (74-64-73)
• Led the team with 10 tournaments as Illinois' No. 1 or No. 2 finisher
• Paced the Illini with top-20 finishes in 12 of 13 stroke play events
• 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

High School/Junior

• Earned four varsity letters for golf at Bishop Blanchet High School
• Ranked No. 23 in the AJGA rankings
• 2022 AJGA Rolex All-American second team
• Led Bishop Blanchet to the 2022 WIAA State Championship
• 2022 Washington Golf Junior Player of the Year
• Four-time Metro Player of the Year, all-metro first-team selection, and all-district performer
• 2022 Junior PGA Championship medalist at Cog Hill Golf & Country Club in Palos Park, Ill., carding rounds of 68-66-70-68 to claim the prestigious title by five strokes with a 72-hole tally of 272 (-16). 
• 2022 Coachella Amateur champion, shooting an 8-under 208 at the Golf Club at Terra Lago (North Course) in Indio, Calif.  

Personal

• Full name is Maxwell David Herendeen
• Goes by Max
• Son of Jon and Jill Herendeen
• Born Jan. 27, 2005 in Thousand Oaks, Calif.
• Grew up in Bellevue, Wash.
• Has a younger sister, Mia
• Also recruited by Oklahoma State, USC, Vanderbilt, Wake Forest, and Washington. 
• Chose Illinois "To become a better player under Coach Small, and to be in an environment that loves to compete and battle for championships."

Career Statistics

Career Results

^ - Competed as an individual and did not count toward team score