Experiences September 29, 2026 5 min de lectura

Golf in La Barra: Lessons and Coaching with Máximo Röhrdanz

By Modo Punta

Golf, learning and enjoyment: a conversation with Máximo Röhrdanz in La Barra

From La Barra Golf Club, the teaching professional reflects on his relationship with the sport, teaching, and the values golf passes on at every age.

With the golf course unfolding just steps away, the conversation with Máximo Röhrdanz takes place at one of the tables at La Barra Golf Club’s restaurant. The setting matches the mood: open green, silence broken only by the crisp sound of a distant shot. In that calm, easygoing atmosphere, the teaching professional and player looks back on his personal history with golf and explains why, after decades of practice and teaching, it’s still a sport that pulls him in.

Röhrdanz is both instructor and player. When the calendar allows, he competes; the rest of the time he teaches at clubs around the area, including La Barra, Cantegril, and Fasano Las Piedras. His approach, he makes clear from the start, is about teaching and guiding the process, rather than replicating rigid models.

—Who are you and what do you do today?
—I’m Máximo Röhrdanz, a golf teacher and professional instructor. I’m also a player: when there are tournaments and I have time, I compete. But teaching is definitely my strength.

His relationship with golf began early and within the family. He grew up in Montevideo, very close to the Punta Carretas Golf Club, where his father, mother, and sister also played. That everyday exposure marked the start of a path that, over time, became competitive.

—How did your relationship with golf start?
—It started as a kid, because everyone at home played. I started almost as a game, with a club they bought me just to give it a try. Then they told my father I had a knack for it, and that’s when I started competing. By 13 I was already playing in the top division, traveling to tournaments in Argentina, Brazil, and South America.

Although he played other sports — from paddle tennis to diving — golf ended up taking center stage. Not just for the game itself, but for what it builds over the long run.

—What do you feel golf brings to a person’s life?
—It’s a sport that hooks you. Even if you’re not good, when you hit it well once or twice, something happens. It’s addictive, in the good sense. I have students I’ve had for 30 years, and very few quit. You can keep playing your whole life.

That continuity is key to his teaching approach. Röhrdanz works especially with adults and older people, adapting the learning process to each person’s real abilities.

—Can you start playing golf later in life?
—Absolutely. I’ve had students in their 70s and 80s. People who had never played and always saw it as unfinished business. The secret is adapting the teaching. I observe the person, see what they can do, whether they have any physical limitation, and guide them from there so they enjoy it.

His method relies less on obsessive technical correction and more on experience. He doesn’t believe in imposing an ideal swing, but in finding a workable, enjoyable way to play.

—What role does the setting play in golf?
—It’s essential. Golfers arrive at the club and immediately shift into a different rhythm. You put your shoes on, step onto the grass, take in the surroundings. You put the phone away. It’s four or five hours where your head is somewhere else entirely. That, today, is very valuable.

The conversation also touches on training younger players and the role of junior golf programs, which serve a key social and sporting function in the area.

—What does golf bring to childhood?
—Values. Conduct, honesty, respect. In golf you can’t lie. If the teacher is good, that gets instilled early on. Kids learn to manage frustration, respect the rules, get along with others. It doesn’t matter what social class you’re from: there are kids golf clicks with and others it doesn’t, like with any sport.

Before wrapping up, Röhrdanz shares a personal reflection on what golf has given him throughout his life.

—What does golf mean to you today?
—It’s given me a lot of satisfaction. I’ve met people I never would have met otherwise, it’s opened doors for me and let me build relationships. It’s a difficult sport, but a very enjoyable one. I stay active in a lot of things, but golf is where I’ve focused the most, because I like playing and I like teaching.

The conversation winds down unhurried, the course always present. Like golf itself, it moves forward without fanfare, carried by time, experience, and a passion that, far from fading, keeps finding new ground.