Welcome to the obsession and be careful as this place can be habit forming. To get started on the right foot, be sure to check out the Getting Started and FAQs info over there----->.
As to your questions:
HuntinBirds:Not sure how to get friends
My suggestion is to add friends as you
play...if they are friendly, not quitters and have similar abilities would be my critiria.
You can also get to know players you have something in common with by joining a Country Club. To make them a friend, go to the their profile page and click on ADD AS FRIEND near the top of the page...they will have the option to accept or decline.
HuntinBirds: get credits...
There are lots of ways to get credits besides using a credit card like tournaments, random drawings, viewing commercials/video's, participating in offers and taking surveys...look in the GET CREDITS section above.
NOTE: Playing non-stroke play games such as CTTH, BLITZ, Match Play and Skins will not improve your Scoring Average with is a key element in advancing to higher tiers. Try to play rated stroke play rounds if you are interested in that.
Joey