In what world do you live where going back and forth, even though the cave was JUST THERE, is the right way to go?
cave? The golem is in the water at a dead end to the left right in the sea. But you don't see that there is a dead end from the hydra's place. You have to go far in.
In my case I beat the hydra without the rusted iron ring (which should be the case for almost all players that aren't using a guide nor wiki) and having 5 flasks in total. Which means it's awfully slow to move in water. Which means beating the hydra and then investigating the whole lake would be a pretty stupid idea. It's exactly what new players aren't supposed and shouldn't do. New players would rather climb up the ladder (and then probably get killed by forest hunters).
I mean if you got a guide with a map, you would see that there is a dead end. Players without a guide wouldn't know at all. There could be another hydra or worse. And without the rusted iron ring, players move awfully slow in the water.
That is the WRONG way to go, once you are in an area you investigate it completly, you don't go back and forth. That makes no sense at all. Specially since it's a minuscule area that leads to a dead end.
Like I said - you normally don't investigate the whole area at once. Especially after getting lots of souls. You spend them, then you investigate further. You may also refill the flasks.
I guess you are just such a superb player and played the game without using a guide nor wiki and beat the hydra first try. You probably already planned ahead of time and used some insane weapon and you also had 20 flasks at your disposal and had the rusted iron ring, so immediately investigating further was a great idea in your case. And in that case, yes, you would have a right to complain. For me, a not as good player that played that game right when it was released, it wasn't a problem, because I wasn't as good as you, so I played it safe and had no issues with the golem at all. Worse yet, even now on my 8th playthrough I'm finding new things.
This is a joke right? Not only is the gollem WAY out of range after beating the Hydra, he is just a normal mob, no one will get slaughtered by it.
If you have 5 flasks in total (normal first-time players will have 10 flasks at most at that time, if even that) and are totally unexperienced and also don't have the rusted iron ring - then they won't have an easy time. Not at all. The golem moves like the golems on land, so in that case the player would have a major disadvantage.
I just beat exactly that golem. Of course this is my 8th or so playthrough. I already got rite to kindle. I already got the lordvessel. I also got plenty of good weapons. I also got the rusted ring. And I also have plenty of experience. So I had no issues at all with the golem this time. First-time players won't have that advantage. And even I wouldn't fight the golem without the ring (I'm playing as low level, so blocking would work for the first hit and then I would be dead).
And I remember that I had quite a hard time on my first playthrough even with the regular golems outside the water. They took ages to kill, because my weapons weren't good. In my case that was because I went right to the hydra after ringing the first bell.