I have owned both along with a DC2 and a DC5 and the Civic is a nice car which handles very well and is quick enough but they are very different animals.
If you want nimble handling and don't mind little Torque and all your power at the top end then the Civic is the way to go but if you like a more relaxed drive with less gear changing then go for the Golf
here is my old run out model which has the much nicer Recaro's
but even though I also had a DC5 which was very good the best of the bunch was my Integra Type R DC2