A golf ball is a bluff body whereupon separation is a major problem. If you can delay it by energizing the boundary layer i.e., provoking turbulence, the benefits are obvious.
The problem with commercial jets in the cruise is the opposite in the sense that you'd like to laminarize as much of the flow as possible as parasitic drag is a function of the shear stress which in turn is a function of the velocity gradient through the boundary layer. This also has the added benefit of reducing the pressure drag.
Boundary layer thickness tends to be proportional to 1/sqrt(Re).
Typical velocity gradients through boundary layers of both the laminar and turbulent kind illustrate that for the purposes of reducing the skin friction coefficient, you want a laminar boundary layer over as much of the wing as possible.
Here's a link to NASA's project:
NASA F-16XL Laminar Flow Aircraft
During the days of my research studies, there were other students doing similar kinds of things albeit on a wind tunnel scale.
The major problem?
The holes through which you exert the suction tended to get continually blocked with dirt/bugs etc etc
