Special Sections - The Courier's Desert RSS Feed

Tennis Superstars Heat Up The Desert

No Author — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 12:17:00 EST

�Impressive,� is only one superla-tive used to describe the BNP Paribas Open now underway at Indian Wells Tennis Gardens. Named for its presenting sponsor�a major international bank best known in Europe�the open has grown to become the largest ATP World Tour and WTA combined two-week event anywhere, offering more than $11 million in total prize money, with the men and women singles champion pocketing a cool $1 million, each. And, the other top finishers benefit as well, since their share of the total purse has increased to six-figures.

Let The Games�And Tennis Madness �Begin

Frances Allen — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 10:06:00 EST

This year marks the BNP Paribas Open�s 35th anniversary and will see 2009 defending champions Rafael Nadal and Vera Zvonareva and more than 300 of the best men�s and women�s tennis players in the world at the Indian Wells Tennis Gardens.

Tennis madness and the tens of thousands of tennis fans who make the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament held at the Indian Wells Tennis Gardens�the fifth most-attended tennis tournament in the world�are welcome March visitors to the Desert; but this year has one remarkable exception.

Celebrities, Fans Return For Frank�s �Little Party�

No Author — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 10:15:00 EST

By Frances Allen

Twenty-two years ago, Frank Sinatra threw �a little party in the Desert.� It became an annual event as Frank would invite his friends to Rancho Mirage for a long weekend of fun, golf � and, well you know the rest.

But there was a charitable component behind many things Sinatra did, and the beneficiary of his �little party� was the Barbara Sinatra Children�s Center, which opened in 1986 on the campus of the Eisenhower Medical Center.

Big Bidding Expected For �Day In The Garden� Fundraiser

No Author — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 10:12:00 EST

March 1 not only brings spring to the Desert, it also brings �A Day in the Garden,� a special fundraising activity held for the Palm Springs Art Museum. It�s special because live auction items can be purchased by a single person or by forming a bidding group with friends.

What types of items are they? Here are the just-released descriptions of the first four items.

The Long and Winding Road to Indian Wells

No Author — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 14:40:00 EST

By Frances Allen    

Over the past several years, the combined ATP and Sony Ericsson WTA Tour events, now played at the Indian Wells Tennis Gardens, have been considered as the �Grand Slam of the West.�

Hope and Fame Dwell at Indian Wells

No Author — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 14:35:00 EST

By Frances Allen   

Arguably for more than the past decade, but certainly since the opening of the Indian Wells Tennis Gardens earlier, the hope and fame surrounding professional tennis has been forged in the Coachella Valley.

Desert Readies for Winter�s Frank Sinatra Starkey Hearing Foundation Celebrity Invitational Golf Tourney

No Author — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 19:11:00 EST

By Frances Allen

It has been confirmed that Gary Mule Deer will perform at next year�s 21st annual Frank Sinatra Starkey Hearing Foundation Celebrity Invitational golf tournament, Feb. 19 � 21.

24-Hours At The Legendary Riviera Resort & Spa

Abbey Hood — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 19:01:00 EST

Trademark hotel re-opens after a $70 million upgrade.
It felt like 1968 for a minute. He sat on the balcony in his upstairs room at the Riviera, overlooking the pool shaped like a �paint palette,� reading his USA Today  in a Burberry bathing suit, as the women below were in hair rollers and stilettos buzzing about the Miss California pageant taking place later that afternoon.