Surf Rod Question

[Average Fisherman]

So I've been in the market for a big surf set up. I wanted to go with the Shimano Ultegra/Tiralejo combo, then quickly realized I would be using my money, so we would need to pare down that price. I have a Penn 7000 series spinning reel that has been awesome, but I wanted something that I could heave way out, and not have to walk into chest deep water. I settled on the Penn Spinfisher V SSV10500, with an 11 foot Penn Prevail surf rod. The reel is as expected, and holds enough line for me to fish the jetties.... from here in Alexandria. It's big. My question is about the rod. To my modestly trained eye, it seems a little stiff for optimum casting distance. Did I get the wrong rod, or are rods like this meant to be pretty stiff? I got this on Amazon, and plan on playing around next weekend at the beach to try and hook my dad into some redfish fun. I can return this and get a new rod in quickly, if my selection was incorrect. I'm basically looking for a rod, preferably under $100, that is good for distance casting. And I do have smaller surf set ups. I understand this is totally overkill. I just wanted one big set up with a half mile of 50 pound braid for the day I can finally take a little time and try to hook into some sea monsters way off the beach.