I agree with you Yoey it is not necessary to cast 150mtrs on the HB beaches or the south coast but on the wild west it can make the difference.
Learning to cast the Pendulum style is an advantage with clipped up/down baits or on a beach with a lot of rubbish on it.
The pendulum and swing casts will also help you load the rod which in turn will improve your distance.
An old friend of mine who is now in his 80's does a lovely half pendulum for fishing and he achieves 80 plus mtrs with no effort at all, some thing to to look at maybe.
So in a nut shell Distance Casting has every thing to do with fishing, ie rod design and materials, line,reels both fixed and free etc.
Think about this, I bet most of you have an HDMI TV do you complain that its to clear.