ANA Inspiration to kick-off weekend of golf and parties

The ANA Inspiration is expected to draw tens of thousands of people to the Coachella Valley for various events.

It’s pristine conditions at Mission Hills Country Club, with the world’s best in women’s golf practicing.

“It’s gorgeous, it’s a wonderful day. We’re outside in the sun. Everyone is doing well. It’s a great day,” Keke Daniels, visiting from Orange County, said.

Fans like the Daniels family are visiting the valley to catch the tournament and in some ways, trying to beat the crowds.

“You can get anywhere you want and get right up close. You’re not fighting any crowds. We’ve never done this before, but I would do it again,” Mark Daniels said.

Tournament staff says they expect to see around 40,000 people over the four days of the tournament coming from all over the world.

“I think you’ll see energetic crowds. They’ll be lots of birdies. They’ll be also lots of bogeys, the rough here is really brutal this year,” Chris Garrett, the tournament director, said.

Coinciding with the golf tournament is the Dinah, a music festival that organizers bill as the largest lesbian event in the world.

“We celebrate women. We celebrate women visibility. We celebrate our voices. We are booking talent that represent women that are breaking glass ceiling,” Mariah Hanson, the founder of the event, said.

Hotels are expected to be packed in Palm Springs for the weekend getaway with around 8,000 to 10,000 festival-goers expected to be in town.

“Buying clothes, going up the tram. We are great aficionados of Palm Springs,” Hanson said.

With all the visitors in town, expect a busy opening weekend of April.

First round play of the ANA Inspiration will begin Thursday morning and crowds will be able to enter the gates starting at 6:45 a.m.