Well, this is another one of those stories and it all started with Chris Patrizi. James Sayers was stationed in Doha, Qatar working in the oil and gas business where he met first met Chris Patrizi. Their daughters played high school volleyball at an international school there. Fast forward a few years and the Sayers moved to Cordillera Ranch while the Patrizis moved back to Houston. Michael Loup had known the Patrizis since their daughters were in childhood dance class together, and when Michael and Chaille started dating in 2015, Chaille was introduced into the mix. After getting married in 2017 and selling their ranch outside of Kerrville, Michael and Chaille bought a lot in The Springs in 2020 and joined the Club. Michael had Chris out to play golf and they ran into the Sayers … you can see where this is going now. Later on, James invited Michael out to play golf so he could meet some new people on the Ranch — we are close to explaining how they ended up in Ireland for Maria’s birthday.

Michael and Chaille are also members of a club in Waterville, Ireland called Hogs Head — we’ve got another connection coming. Chaille reconnected with Sara Bettencourt, a school friend from Kinkaid in Houston, after discovering on Facebook that Sara and her husband, Mark, were at Hogs Head and found out that they are also members (or Hogs as they call it).  Upon further communication, Sara asked about Chaille’s interest in Cordillera Ranch and they found that they would eventually be neighbors as the Bettencourts plan to retire out here.  Now onto the story about Ireland …

James and Maria visited Hogs Head with the Loups and a few other couples from Cordillera Ranch a few years ago. They loved it so much that Maria wanted to return this year to celebrate her 60th birthday. Michael barely needs an excuse to visit Ireland, and knowing the Bettencourts didn’t know many people out here yet, invited them to join the group — he extended the same welcoming spirit the Sayers had shown him. To round out the group, Gina and Dan Genovese and Kam and Jeff Gossett joined the trip as well. We say it all the time, but it truly is amazing how open and inviting the community is at Cordillera Ranch — throw some old connections in there, and a little golf, and you’ve got something really special.

Now it’s time to dive into their awesome trip celebrating Maria Sayer’s birthday. Everyone flew into Shannon, which is a short drive from Waterville where they got their first round in. That evening, they dinned at McCarthy’s Bar and enjoyed some live Irish music along with the first of many times they sang Maria happy birthday. The group played the next couple rounds at Hogs Head and then moved over to Adare Manor — the 2027 Ryder Cup host site.

While at dinner that first night at Adare Manor, they ran into Steph Curry (yes, that Steph Curry) who was celebrating his dad’s birthday with his brother. Maria didn’t recognize Steph and asked him to take a picture of their group — Steph decided to take a selfie first and then kindly took their picture in front of the manor. They skipped golf the next day to explore the town of Adare and enjoyed High Tea at the manor. The group played one more round at Adare where Maria had a young lady caddie who is a +5-index chasing professional golfer. She guided Maria around to a beautiful 78 in the rain. The Bettencourts had to get back to Texas so they departed that morning while the others ventured over to Trump International Golf Links in Doonbeg where they played their final round of golf before departing back to Texas.

From Qatar to Houston to Ireland and back to Boerne — all roads lead to friendships at Cordillera Ranch.