“And then you pick up?”
This is typically how it’s characterized and of course it’s technically true. When you play Stableford and you can’t score, you don’t hit the ball anymore. That would be a waste of effort. And if you don’t want to waste golf balls too, you pick it up.
And technically it’s true. But shot through those two words is something like a capitulation. You “pick up” in stroke golf when you’ve had enough. When you need to break the rules. When you just can’t keep up in one way or another.
But in Stableford the act has a different payload. You’ve broken no rule. The possession is simply over. Yes you pick up, but it doesn’t feel the way a Stableford skeptic thinks it’s going to feel. Since you can’t score, you want to be ready to tee the golf ball where you can score, and that is now the next tee.
So then you pick up.