...I found that the reward of going 'higher up' should also be more distance? There is no reward at all on that score. I find that strange.
I look at it this way Charles...
The various levels and their unique characteristics allow players to hit the ball and score well to a professional golfer standard. The problem, as I see it, is the naming convention doesn't reflect the ability to score well at each level. In other words - with a bit of practice a Beginner can score better than a Tour Pro player but they are still called a "Beginner".
While the JNPG player base and tournament numbers remain small the spread of skill levels will remain wide. In professional golf there are thousands of players of similar skill levels trying to become eligible for pro tournaments. We don't have the luxury of those numbers but to compensate we do have the ability to run tournaments which could involve players from all levels competing together successfully. We all would simply have to get over the fact that one might be beaten by someone playing with more assists than themselves.
There is nothing wrong with having an exclusive Tour Pro comp for "the best" but there is a separate issue with grids (and even BLI), various controllers and also swing types which messes up the level playing field anyway but that's another matter. Therefore, having an all level-inclusive comp would increase the numbers for a more robust competition.
To reduce club distances for the easier levels would instantly split the competitive player base among other drawbacks. Not a good idea at this point.