neil,
distance - buy or win credits to upgrade equipment and balls, if you dont wish to do that try putting the green dot on the bottom of the golf ball in crosswinds and tailwinds, will add a few yards
friends- if you are playing with someone you can click on their name and their profile will appear, click on the add to friends button, they have to accept of course, and you can search for people under the wgt players button up top of this screen, you can play against friends or search for a game in the join group area of the flash pop up you play the game in
a great site to meet people and find game can be found here, just be sure to read the faq's and such as people at the ladders site like to finish rounds they start
http://www.wgt.agls.org.uk
hope that helps, hit em well