The Comeback King of Golf. His career defined a generation.
Anthony Kim’s Matkovich golf & safari tour was the ultimate celebration of a man who finally found his rhythm again, both on and off the course. There’s a moment in every great comeback story where it stops being just sport and becomes something much bigger. For Anthony Kim, that moment didn’t happen on a fairway. It happened somewhere in the African bush, with lions roaring in the distance, and his loving family beside him. His South African golf safari with Matkovich Golf Travel was a trip to remember, forever.
If you follow golf, you already know the name. If you follow the story of Anthony Kim’s South Africa journey, you’ll understand exactly why Matkovich Golf Travel is the only operator you’d trust to build it.
Why South Africa? Why Anthony Kim?
South Africa is, without question, one of the finest golf and safari destinations on the planet. The courses are world-class, ranking among the very best anywhere. The wildlife is extraordinary. And the sheer variety of experience from the dramatic coastline of the Garden Route to the raw, untamed wilderness of Greater Kruger means no two days ever look the same.
After a legendary decade-long hiatus, Anthony Kim’s 2024 return to professional golf culminated in a historic, bogey-free victory at LIV Adelaide in early 2026. To celebrate this monumental career revival, the “Comeback King” traded the pressure of the fairway for the serenity of the South African bush. Accompanied by his family, Kim turned to Matkovich Golf Travel for a bespoke journey that balanced world-class golf with the raw magic of a Big Five safari – proving that even a champion needs a private escape to truly switch off.
He came to South Africa for something more. Championship golf, Big 5 safari, private lodges, and an itinerary built entirely around what mattered to him.
For someone like Anthony Kim, rebuilding from the inside out was never going to be a standard sun-and-golf trip. It needed to be something that fed the soul as much as the scorecard. That’s a tall order. Matkovich Golf Travel filled it.
It’s a journey built around you, where championship golf meets the wild.
At Matkovich, we don’t do templates, we don’t do standard, we do excellence. We don’t pull a package off the shelf and hand it over with a brochure. When Kim came to us, the conversation started with what mattered to him, his family, his rhythm, his idea of a perfect day. Everything was built around that. Championship tee times. Private lodge stays. Safari drives at sunrise. A fully inclusive itinerary with no gaps and no guesswork. That’s the difference at Matkovich.
Personal hosting, concierge excellence, and soul.
What genuinely separates Matkovich from the crowd is their personally hosted golf holidays in South Africa approach. You’re not handed off to a local rep who’s met a hundred groups this season. You travel with someone who knows the routes, knows the lodges, knows the pace that makes a trip feel like a journey rather than a schedule. It’s the difference between a good holiday and the holiday you tell everyone about for years.
Not sure where to begin? Matkovich has put together genuinely brilliant guidance on the best South Africa golf holiday routes , covering Cape Town, the Garden Route, and the Kruger region in real depth. Most guests end up wanting all three. You’ll understand why the moment you start reading…
Anthony Kim’s South Africa Itinerary in Focus
So what did it actually look like? While every Matkovich itinerary is bespoke, Kim’s trip gives us a brilliant window into what’s possible when the planning is done properly.
Cape Town Championship Golf
The journey begins in Cape Town, and if you haven’t played golf here, you’re missing one of the great experiences in the sport. Courses set against the backdrop of Table Mountain, with the Atlantic just a few holes away. The city itself is world-class: food, wine, culture, and light that photographers dream about. It’s an extraordinary starting point for any South Africa golf safari.
The Garden Route
Moving east along the coast, the Garden Route offers a different kind of beauty. Lush. Verdant. Dramatic coastal cliffs giving way to lagoons and forests. The golf mirrors the landscape. It’s unique, characterful, and deeply memorable. This stretch of South Africa is one of those places that takes you completely by surprise, even when you were expecting greatness.
Kruger National Park & the Big 5 Safari
And then, Kruger National Park! Over two million hectares of untouched African wilderness. The Big 5 on your doorstep. A world so alive it quite literally resets you. This is where Kim’s trip moved from exceptional to genuinely life-changing. Flying into Johannesburg and making your way into the greater Kruger region feels like crossing a threshold. Everything that matters back home starts to feel very far away.
The Timbavati Private Reserve
Kim’s safari experience was centred in the Timbavati Private Reserve. It’s an extraordinary stretch of private bush bordering Kruger’s western edge. Unfenced. Free-roaming. Home of the rare white lion and one of the most exclusive game-viewing environments in all of Africa. Two guided drives per day: morning light, when the predators are still active, and golden hour, when everything seems to slow down and breathe. The Big 5 are truly within reach.
&Beyond Ngala Safari Lodge, Timbavati
Accommodation was at & Beyond Ngala Safari Lodge – a name that carries serious weight in the luxury safari world. Thatched roofs, floor-to-ceiling glass overlooking the bush, deep bath tubs in rooms that open to the wilderness. Everything included. Meals, drinks, guided activities, boma evenings. No extras. No awkward bill at the end. Just an experience, complete in every detail.
Plan Your South African Golf Safari with Matkovich
When it’s planned properly, each experience actually makes the other richer. There’s something about watching a lion pride move through the bush at dawn that changes how you approach a round of golf three hours later. You’re more present. More grounded. Golf in Africa is golf with experience and new perspective. And as Anthony Kim knows better than most, perspective is everything.
Family, a full mind reset, and the moments that actually count – memories.
Anthony has spoken publicly about how much his family means to him, his wife, his daughter Bella. The South Africa trip with Matkovich wasn’t a solo adventure. It was a family experience. A reset. A reminder that the best version of life isn’t lived on a leaderboard. It’s lived in the moments that catch you off guard. A giraffe loping past your safari vehicle, your child’s face when they see an elephant for the first time. Those are the moments we create.
Plan your own Anthony Kim-style South African Golf Safari – where would you start?
Cape Town? The Garden Route? Kruger? There’s no wrong starting point. There’s just yours. And Matkovich will build everything else around it.
Anthony Kim’s South African golf safari is the kind of trip that makes everything else look ordinary by comparison. Not because it’s luxury, or flashy, but because it’s personal. Because every single day of it was built around what actually mattered to him. And that’s a standard worth holding every trip to.
What’s included in a Matkovich Safari Package.
Fully inclusive with no detail left to chance.
Every Matkovich golf and safari package covers the essentials without compromise. All flights and transfers arranged, two guided game activities per day, all meals and beverages, and private lodge accommodation curated specifically for each group. There’s no hunting around for what’s covered. Everything is arranged. Everything is considered. You arrive and enjoy.
Candlelit Boma Dinners Under African Skies.
One of the most unexpected highlights of any great safari isn’t a game drive. It’s the evenings. Picture a candlelit boma, a traditional open-air enclosure – with lanterns strung between the trees, a fire crackling at the centre, and the sounds of the African bush filling the night. A long table. Great food. Stories flowing. This is what Matkovich builds into every itinerary, because the details aren’t an afterthought. They’re the point.
Frequently Asked Questions
Timbavati is a private game reserve bordering Kruger’s western boundary. It’s unfenced, meaning wildlife, including the Big 5 move freely between reserves. It’s also home to the rare white lion. Game drives take place morning and evening, in a much more exclusive setting than the main Kruger gates.
A Matkovich safari package typically includes all transfers, all flights arranged, twice-daily guided game activities, all meals and beverages, and private lodge accommodation. The fully inclusive model means guests arrive and enjoy, no unexpected extras, no itemised bills.
Yes, and Anthony Kim’s family safari is a great example. &Beyond Ngala in Timbavati is warm, well-equipped for families, and fully inclusive in every way. The private lodge setting, guided activities, and intimate scale make it one of the finest family safari experiences in South Africa.
Kim’s itinerary with Matkovich Golf Travel covered championship golf in the Cape region, the Garden Route’s coastal courses, and a four-day Big 5 safari at Timbavati, staying at &Beyond Ngala Safari Lodge. It’s a route that covers the full spectrum of what South Africa can offer, and one Matkovich can replicate and personalise for any group.