Nupe06, welcome to WGT!
First, all players start as HACK. That's just the way it is. You will progress to Amatuer, Pro, and Master when you can get your ranking down to the appropriate level. What those levels are, at the moment, are still under debate.
As for the clubs, as it is right now, an increase in ranking does NOT affect your clubs. It will affect your tee box on the Kaiwah course only, stroke play. All Bethpage players start from the same tee box, no matter their ranking. (And yes, there are a bunch of tee shots where you won't even sniff the fairway.)
You can upgrade your clubs via the pro-shop. Keep in mind that these upgrades cost real money (100 credits = $1.00) and do not offer as big of advantage as one might think.
My advice to you? Simple really... play as much as you can on all the courses/skills OTHER than Bethpage to get a good feel for the game and when you are ready to be challenged, fire up the USOpen course. Remember, par there is an excellent score.
Cheers!