* The vowel sound in "golden" is a short "o" sound. It sounds like the "o" in "hot" or "dog."
* Long vowel sounds are typically marked by a single vowel letter followed by a silent "e" at the end of a word (like "hope," "bike," "time"), or by two vowel letters together (like "rain," "goat," "seed").
Therefore, "golden" does not follow any of the typical spelling patterns for long vowel sounds.