Golden was a star player for Reading Memorial High School in Massachusetts, leading his team to a Middlesex League championship while scoring nearly 3 points per game. The Edmonton Oilers ended up selecting him in the 2nd round of the 1983 NHL Entry Draft and he began attending the University of New Hampshire in the fall. Golden's tenure in Durham lasted just 7 games and he left mid-season to play for both a junior-B team and at the World Junior Championships.