Most ball dispensing machines on golf courses work with tokens because it is the cheapest and most comprehensive way to make customers pay for their consumption.
By selling tokens in the club house or via a change machine, members can pay with any means they like and there is no machine filled with money on the golf course.
Golf ball dispensing machines are often equipped with simple mechanical coin validators that allow all similar coins of a certain size. To protect the golf course operator against fake tokens, many golf ball dispensers have a front plate with a specific profile that only accepts the corresponding grooved tokens.