The reason it's difficult to win in goldens (in AKC at least) is that the point structure is set up so that only one bitch and one dog can receive points at a show.
You enter your class (let's say your bitch is in 9-12 puppy bitches). There may be half a dozen puppies in the class, and you win. That seems like it should be worth something, but you don't get ANY points for that. What they do is take the winners from all the various classes for bitches (puppy classes, bred by exhibitor, open, novice, american bred) and then those bitches compete together for Winner's Bitch. That's the female that then gets the points, and the number of points depends on the number of bitches that compete. Each area has a schedule of points based on how many dogs of that breed typically show in that area.
They do the same thing with the dogs - the winner of each class goes in together and the winner gets Winner's Dog and is awarded the points.
Then both Winner's Bitch and Winner's Dog go in for the Best in Breed competition against any specials that may have entered - specials being dogs and bitches who already have their championships and don't have to compete in the individual classes. If you take Best of Breed, Best of Opposite Sex or Best of Winners you may receive additional points (again, based on the number of dogs). Maximum number of points at any one show is five. A major is 3-5 points.
You may also receive points if you take a Group 1 win.
Now, if you consider how popular goldens are and how many you must compete against, if you don't have a fairly superior animal then you are probably just going to be "point fodder" for the other goldens. There's nothing wrong with this as you will gain experience and that's a good thing, but if you lose all the time it sure gets old. Starting with a breed that isn't quite so popular will give you more likelihood of picking up some points, but it also can be difficult to get the majors if there aren't enough of the breed around to push the numbers up to the point where winners get at least three points.
I have a chow that I've shown in conformation and she's pointed, but unless she takes a group win she can't get a major here in Alaska because we don't have enough chows showing up here. I would have to travel to the lower 48 states to show her and that's just not worth it to me. So I am doing performance with her instead (I prefer it anyway) and I'll pop her in a conformation show once in awhile just to see what happens. I have to pick and choose my judges too - unfortunately there are a lot of chow judges out there who just pick the heaviest head. They're called "head hunters" and Khana doesn't stand a chance because she has a more open, lovely face devoid of wrinkles.
You can read up more on AKC shows at
http://www.akc.org/events/conformation/index.cfm
Melanie and the gang in Alaska