Stix Compete Driver Review

Stix Compete Driver Key Features:

• Lightweight carbon fibre crown: optimises weight distribution and increases distance
• Adjustable loft sleeve: allows you to tweak the loft of the club while also offering fade or draw bias options
• 70-ton Japanese pre-preg graphite shaft: designed to deliver explosive distance and control

For those unfamiliar with Stix, it's a brand that really burst onto the golf scene with an excellent package set that stunned us with its performance. 

The affordable brand has now returned with the Compete driver, a premium offering designed to compete with the big boys like Callaway, TaylorMade, and PING. 

Featuring a lightweight carbon crown, adjustable loft options and a premium PU headcover, this driver certainly looks the part. But could it keep up when it came to performance?

To find out, we took it down to Mannings Heath Golf and Wine Estate before digging deep into the data at Custom Golf Works in Woking. 

Let's get into it.

Player Level

The Compete Driver is somewhat of an all-rounder. However, low single-figure golfers will probably desire something that delivers less spin and more workability. With that in mind, this driver is best suited to mid-to-high handicap golfers. 

Stix Compete Driver Looks and Feel

When we first tested the Stix Perform Club set, we were really impressed with the visuals. The brand opts for a fully blacked-out stealth finish, which has carried over into the Compete driver. 

The mixed material crown has a matte finish near the face, with a step back onto a carbon crown, very similar in appearance to what we saw from TaylorMade on the original M1 driver. 

This look has been popular for a number of years, and it really works on the Compete, too. 

A single red alignment line is the only splash of colour on the crown, and if we're being completely honest, we would have preferred it to be slightly smaller and perhaps white instead of red, but again, that's just our personal preference. 

Flip the club over, and that same minimalist aesthetic is continued, with a matte portion close to the face and a solid gloss finish taking up the vast majority of the sole. 

Branding and detailing are once again kept to a minimum, completing the very sleek aesthetic. 

Overall, we have to give Compete a solid 9/10 for visuals. Stix's branding and visual style are really strong, and they provide a lovely point of difference from its competitors. 

Moving on to feel, and we have to say there is still some room for improvement in this department. 

While some of the best drivers on the market in 2024, like the TaylorMade Qi10 and Callaway Paradym, Ai Smoke Max, feel very solid at impact, the Compete feels somewhat hollow and a little tinny. 

When struck from the centre, there is a good amount of pop, but we found that from across the face, there wasn't quite that same deep impact feel you would typically expect from a premium driver. 

While there is still room for improvement in the feel category, we have to commend Stix, as this is the brand's first premium driver offering, and although it's not quite perfect, there is still a lot to love. 

Stix Compete Driver Performance and Forgiveness

While feel and looks are obviously important, it's forgiveness and performance that are really going to decide if Stix has made a driver that competes at the top table. 

If you look at the numbers above, the driver produced some really solid performance data. 

Digging into the numbers, the Compete is a couple of miles per hour slower than the likes of Titleist, TaylorMade, and Callaway, but in all honesty, it is not quite as far behind as we thought it would be.

The spin remained pretty optimal on centre strikes, while the ball speed generated was solid without being sensational. 

Struck from the middle, the ball produced a strong and stable ball flight, and we noticed there was no real bias towards a draw or a fade, which is good to see. 

In terms of forgiveness, there is sadly still some work to do for Stix. 

We found that when we missed the centre of the clubface, our misses were quite aggressive. 

From either the toe or the heel, we found that the Compete struggled to keep the ball heading to target, while low and high strikes saw spin rates fluctuate quite considerably. 

While there is still work to do in terms of forgiveness, we don't think this driver is a million miles away from being a really strong performer. 

Had the price of this driver (£390) been slightly lower, we would have probably excused the drop-off in forgiveness; however, when you're paying a premium price point, you deserve premium performance. 

Should you buy a Stix Compete Driver?

The Stix Compete is solid without being spectacular. Its looks are sublime, the feel is satisfactory, and the speed is surprisingly good. However, when it comes to forgiveness, there is certainly room for improvement. 

When you aim to compete with the big boys in the market, everything needs to be hitting consistent 9/10s. The Compete at the moment has a couple too many 7/10s to be a true competitor in the premium driver market right now. 

What we will say, though, is that Stix is a brand that's very early in its development, and this driver is an excellent first attempt to crack the market. 

In all honesty, we believe that £390 is a touch on the high side to pay for this driver. There are a number of premium offerings from more established brands that are available at similar price points, and from what we've seen in testing, they eclipse the Compete for performance, feel and forgiveness.