Highlights from the Inaugural Golf is Global Celebration in Boca Raton

Authored By:

Communications

Earlier this month, at the Osprey Point Golf Course in Boca Raton, CIEE hosted the first annual Golf is Global celebration, a four-day event held in partnership with Florida Atlantic University’s 8th Annual Paradise Invitational Women’s Collegiate Tournament. 

Golf is Global brought together educators, high school and college students, and their families (including BridgeUSA host families), to celebrate the power of golf and study abroad to unite people across cultures and borders. 

 

 

Paradise Invitational NCAA Women's Golf Tournament

Golf is Global

CIEE sponsored the three-day Paradise Invitational NCAA Women’s Golf Tournament in partnership with Florida Atlantic University as part of CIEE’s Golf is Global Initiative that celebrates the intersection of sport and purpose – using the universal values of golf to promote understanding across cultures

The tournament brought together 16 of the country's finest women’s collegiate golf teams, comprised of 123 athletes, over half of whom are international students. The tournament's international student players, who came to America to study abroad and compete at the highest level, hailed from 32 different countries! They joined their American teammates representing 24 different states.

In this Instagram reel, Florida Atlantic University golfer Charlotte Perkins describes her study abroad and golf journey. You can hear more athletes’ stories and their connections to Golf is Global on the CIEE Golf is Global Instagram.

After three days of fierce competition, the University of Tennessee's Women’s Golf Team were the winners of the 8th Annual Paradise Invitational Tournament. Congratulations to the Lady Vols!

CIEE Golf is Global Skills Challenge & Reception

Golf is Global

Unusually cold weather couldn't stop the fun at the CIEE Golf is Global Skills Challenge where participants tested their skills at the long drive, glass breaking, flop wall, chip shots, and more.

Skills challenge participants were entered in a raffle to win prizes and CIEE gave away six free study abroad programs for high school and college students. Plus, two lucky educators won a free 5-day site visit to a CIEE center in one of our 45 international locations!

The high school educator who won the site visit, Emily Ferris from William T. Dwyer High School, was overjoyed about her prize. "The 5-day site visit will give me a first-hand look at what my students could expect to experience on their study abroad programs," said Emily. "I expect to return home with authentic stories and cultural insights that will turn my Palm Beach Gardens classroom into a window the world."

"Our students need to see that there is more to the world than just the city they live in, the state they live in, the country they live in," she said. 

CIEE Lunch & Learn

International educators from across the country joined the CIEE team on the fairway for a Lunch & Learn event. Educators from Florida Atlantic University, Lynn University, Miami Dade College, Florida International University, and Palm Beach State College received an inside look at CIEE’s latest program launches and Leading Change in Study Abroad initiatives, including CIEE's commitment to 100 Paid Internships, the 74 Leading Change in Latin American Study Abroad Student Fellows who are abroad this spring, and the selection process underway for this year’s Frederick Douglass-Daniel O’Connell Global Interns. Attendees also learned about exciting upcoming events, including the 14th Annual CIEE Global Internship Conference, which will take place in Tallinn, Estonia, this June. 

CIEE Glow Golf 

Golf is Global

CIEE hosted a Glow Golf Skills Competition to (literally) highlight the powerful impact of study abroad and international competition. After sunset, students tested their golf skills in the low light, driving glowing golf balls into the dark to win prizes.

More than 100 college students joined the festivities representing a variety of academic majors, student clubs, athletic teams, and fraternities and sororities.

CIEE awarded 14 CIEE $1,500 flight vouchers for international travel to the seven men and seven women who won the longest drive competition. Four students, including several members of Greek organizations, were selected to win a full scholarship to study abroad in Athens, Greece, during summer 2026. The Greeks are going to Greece! 

About CIEE Golf is Global

The CIEE Golf is Global Initiative celebrates how both international education and the global game of golf transcend borders and provide opportunities for building bridges of mutual understanding between people of different backgrounds and traditions. 

We extend our congratulations to the tournament-winning University of Tennessee's Lady Vols, and to the winners of our Golf is Global giveaways!