Why are individual stableford or medal rounds so predictable?

Simon Ngige during the Karen Masters tournament at Karen Country club [Jonah Onyango, Standard]

One weekday morning some years back, I met a friend for a round of golf at the Karen Country Club. My friend, a woman of Irish descent, is very forthright and does not suffer fools gladly. It still came as a surprise when she protested at my first action of picking a scorecard when we arrived at the first tee.

“How else do we play if I don’t keep our scores?” I asked in surprise. “Don’t you ever play just for fun without keeping scores?” she retorted.