50 Words or Less
The Stix C02 Compete 14-club set offers solid value. For the cost of an iron set, you get a complete kit including the bag. Quality is good. Performance is solid but short of elite.
Introduction
As the price of clubs continues to skyrocket, golfers new and old are looking for ways to enjoy quality equipment without getting their pockets emptied. The Stix C02 Compete aims to be a solution to this problem, offering a 14-club set with head covers and a stand bag for well under $2,000. I got to test this entire set to find out if this is a great value or an overpriced box set and if it’s built for beginners or aimed at more seasoned players.
Stix Compete Driver
The Stix Compete driver is clearly meant to be the standout in this set. It gets a premium shaft – the Project X Denali Frost – and a Golf Pride grip. In the bag, the club is black-on-black with the only visual interest coming from the contrast between the matte and gloss finishes. At address, a red line on the matte black forward segment provides help with aiming. The back two-thirds of the crown is shiny black carbon fiber. The shape is surprisingly player-ish: nearly symmetrical and fairly compact from front to back.
While the look is near premium, the sound and feel is not. This is a loud club with a metallic, mid-pitch sound. On center, it’s a more concentrated sound, but off center it’s decidedly clanky or jangly. The feel is middle of the road, overshadowed by the sound.
When the club meets the ball, the results are good. Not great, but good. The speed on center is not elite, but it’s not short. Similarly, mishits stay pretty fast and straight, but it’s not the most consistent driver available. Launch and spin are on the lower side of average, but not extreme. Overall, I think this is a solid driver for most players. A beginner could benefit from a club with really elite forgiveness, but I would have no qualms about handing this to a new golfer. [See Price / Buy]
Stix Compete Fairway Wood
As you can see above, there’s a very consistent aesthetic throughout the woods in the Stix C02 Compete set. The fairway wood has the same red line alignment aid as the driver, along with the matte black forward section and carbon fiber crown.
To me, the sound and feel of C02 Compete fairway wood are superior to the driver. This has a nearly prototypical fairway wood sound – metallic, ting-y – but slightly lower pitched. The ball feels quick off the face, and there’s clear feedback through the hands and ears.
The performance of the Compete FW mirrored the driver, though it does edge a little more toward forgiveness. It produced good ball speed on center and kept the speed fairly consistent on mishits. While not high launching, this club put the ball on a playable trajectory whether the strike was pure or slightly thin. What I liked most about this club is the slightly higher spin. While nowhere near the Callaway Quantum Mini Spinner [review HERE], this is above average in spin, which will be helpful for most golfers in terms of distance, dispersion, and consistency.
Like the driver, the Stix C02 Compete fairway wood is adjustable at the hosel, allowing golfers to tune the loft and lie up and down. It also features a 60 gram shaft, just like the driver. While a 60 gram fairway wood shaft is not ultra light, it is a bit unconventional to have the same weight shaft in the driver and fairway wood.
Stix Compete Hybrid
To my eye, the shaping of the woods gets better and better as loft is added. The Stix C02 Compete hybrid adds a hint of pear shape to an otherwise familiar aesthetic. There’s a black carbon fiber crown alongside a matte black leading edge and a red alignment aid. The face is moderately tall but not overly boxy.
I like the look of this hybrid, but I like the sound and feel even more. This club creates a very solid impact feel in the hands, more like an iron than a wood. This is accentuated by the sound: a woodsy “thud” without any metallic ringing. There is reasonable feedback through the hands, and the sound has a little extra “snap” on center.
Hybrids come in all different flavors, so it’s more important to understand what a club does well than to try to deem it objectively good or bad. With lower launch and higher spin, the Stix C02 Compete hybrid is more of an iron-replacement hybrid than a bomber. The ball speed on center is fine, and it stays fairly consistent across the face. The launch and spin are also robust, creating a predictable ball flight even when your contacts jumps around.
The one part of this equation that’s a bit odd is the shaft. Like both the driver and fairway wood, the hybrid has a 60 gram shaft. That is notably light. To me, that pushes this set – or at least this club – more toward the newer golfer than the player who has established their swing and may want more weight.
Stix Compete Irons
The iron set in the Stix C02 Compete set is 4-PW. These irons maintain the all-black aesthetic, though they do have a modest amount of white paint fill on the back of the blade. At a glance, they look very player-ish. They have that hollow body, faux blade look, and the black finish is very slimming. In the bag, they’re sharp, and give the Stix C02 Compete set a lot of appeal.
At address, the top line is fairly thin, and there’s moderate offset. In terms of shape and size, I’d put these on the smaller side of the game improvement category. The most standout feature is the red bottom groove. I wish I had a stronger feeling about it, but it’s neither a deal breaker nor something that gets me excited. All else equal, I’d prefer it wasn’t there because I’m a little more of a traditionalist.
At impact, I was disappointed by the lack of reward for hitting a pure shot (cue the genius commenters saying, “That’s because you didn’t hit any flush, hahaha” in 3…2…1…). These irons feel firm across the face and produce an impact sound that’s a little harsh though not loud.
The first thing I noticed when I pulled out the Stix Compete C02 irons for testing was the weight. Where the woods all had standard or lighter shafts, the irons have 120 gram steel shafts. In 2026, that’s decidedly heavier than normal. This isn’t inherently good or bad, but it’s a strong contrast with the other long game clubs.
Starting with the pitching wedge, I noticed good ball speed but fairly low spin. Stix calls these irons “players distance,” so the lower spin makes sense in that context. As I got to the mid-irons, the spin started creeping more toward the average range. With these clubs, I also noticed the ball speed dropping off more on mishits. I wouldn’t call this set unforgiving, but it’s short on consistency compared to the best irons.
My final question about this iron set is whether the inclusion of the 4I is necessary. I understand that Stix is trying to target the more experienced golfer, and they want to hit that 14 club mark, but I think the number of players who will create a meaningful gap between the 4I and 5I is fairly small. [See Price / Buy]
Stix Compete Wedges
Like the irons, the Stix Compete wedges look very good in the bag. I like the contrast between the plain back of the blade and the vertical milling nearer the sole. Further kudos to Stix for keeping the branding minimal and the color palette simple. Stix says that their PVD finish is rated for 5,000 swings. I can only say that it came out of my testing looking almost new.
At address, the first thing I noticed is that the Compete wedges have the same red bottom groove as the irons. Again, I don’t particularly like it, but it doesn’t make me hate the club. The shaping of the wedge isn’t my favorite – the leading edge is substantially rounded and the way the grooves sit on the face, particularly near the toe, looks unfinished. That said, I’m a gear nerd, and I expect most people will say, “This looks like a wedge” and move on.
At impact, the Stix Compete C02 wedge feels very firm. Off center, I would go so far as to say it’s hard. This contrast provides some feedback, but I wish there was more reward for hitting it flush. The sound is similarly sharp-edged, which doesn’t help the overall impact sensation.
When I got these wedges on the launch monitor, they stood out as being some of the lower spinning wedges that I’ve tested. Where many modern wedges are pushing the CG higher for lower launch and higher spin, these seem to be the opposite. They launch the ball high very easily but without much spin. These are blade-style wedges, so there is very little forgiveness. If you miss the center of the face, you will lose ball speed and distance.
Stix Compete Putter
Finally, we arrive at the Stix C02 Compete putter. This is a traditional mallet, semi-circular and symmetrical. Something unusual that you might notice from the sole is that there is more metal in the center of the putter. Typically club makers aim to put more weight on the perimeter to make clubs more stable and forgiving.
Moving to address, there’s a thin cavity between two shoulders that are heavy with mill marks. A red top line sight line connects to an unpainted flange line to provide cues for aim and alignment.
The one thing I find really off putting about this putter is the neck. It’s nearly center shafted with a slant neck. I like slant necks a lot, and I can get along with a center shafted putter, but the combination is very weird to my eye.
The feel of the Stix C02 Compete putter is firm and light. It’s not a bad feeling, but it’s not particularly satisfying either. This isn’t helped by the sound of impact, which is thin and tinny on misses.
On the green, this putter surprised me. Nothing about it indicated that I would put well with it. I don’t love the look, 30 degrees of toe hang is a bit less than I prefer, and the enormous triangular grip felt clumsy in my hands. In spite of all, that, I putted very well with it. There’s not a ton of forgiveness, but I didn’t need much. The Stix C02 Compete putter swung naturally, and my distance control felt effortless. All that said, I still prefer the the putter from Stix’s previous 14 club set [review HERE].
Value
We don’t typically deal with value in a club review, but that’s a huge reason for buying (or not buying) a complete set. The Stix C02 Compete set retails for $1,599. Let’s do the math on piecing together the same items from established name brands. My math reflects prices that are on the more premium side, but not the absolute top of the market.
Driver: $650
Fairway + Hybrid: $600
Iron Set: $1,400
Three Wedges: $600
Putter: $300
Bag: $275
That totals to $3,825 (Stix does the same math but goes a little higher, estimating $4,154). This puts the Stix set at approximately 42% the cost – more than half off.
One way to evaluate the value of the Stix C02 Compete is to ask, “Are these clubs more than half as good as the name brand versions?” Objectively, the answer is an easy, “Yes.” As I laid out, some pieces are better than others, but they’re all well above this 50% threshold from a pure performance perspective.
Another question to answer is, “Do I want to spend time piecing together a bag?” If you’re a regular reader here, putting together your bag may be one of your favorite parts of golf. However, lots of other golfers will probably be happy to let Stix do all the work for them.
These are just two of many questions to consider when you’re deciding if this set is a good value to you. What I can report objectively is that it’s a lot of golf equipment for the money. You’d be hard pressed to finder an easier, cheaper way to get out on the course. [See Price / Buy]
Conclusion
There are several things about the Stix Compete 14-Club Set that make me scratch my head, but there are several more that make me give Stix a hearty golf clap. If you’re a recreational player who wants new sticks and doesn’t want to spend a lot of money or time, this is a great option. You won’t get the apex of high performance or forgiveness, but I’m glad this set exists as a counterpoint to the skyrocketing prices of most golf equipment. [See Price / Buy]
A complete 14-club setup designed for control, consistency, and confident shot-making.
He founded Plugged In Golf in 2013 with the goal of helping all golfers play better and enjoy the game more.
Matt lives in the northwest suburbs of Chicago with his wife and two daughters.
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Join the Conversation | 1 Comment
Good morning Matt,
When I started playing golf about 8 years ago, Stix was in the same eye-rolling conversation as the box sets you would buy at WalMart. But it looks like a nice set. I can’t imagine that many sets out there include an adjustable driver and a “zero torque style” center shaft mallet putter. Usually the driver is an afterthought, or they throw in a bad blade putter into these sets. Thanks again.