Yeah, GM is all kinds of wrong here, both CR measurements and attribute calculations.
For starters, he gave them a Class level, which boosts their CR equivalent to their HD - 1 (in this case, CR 1/2 for 1st level creatures), not including any other factors.
Next, that creature, including racial bonuses, has a 44 Point Buy. Compared to a PC that has a 15 Point Buy on average, or even a 20 or 25 Point Buy, will have a severe advantage in stats at level 1, since a lot of their weaknesses will be shored up, and a lot of their strengths magnified. In the starting levels, attributes make a big difference.
Furthermore, he gave him two feats instead of one. At this level, that's double the feats a creature of this level normally has, which means compared to two different level 1 Creatures having one feat each. On top of that, Improved Bite isn't even technically a feat (so I presume they mean Improved Natural Attack [Bite]). This could've been even worse by giving the Goblins the Power Attack feat, scaling at -1/+3. And his math isn't including that Strength damage is increased by 50% for a single Primary Natural Attack, which would give an additional point of damage.
Even worse still, he gave them Masterwork equipment, which puts their WBL ~3 times above that of a 1st level PCs (and raises their CR by a significant amount). Which is good for the PCs if they beat the encounter. It's otherwise bad and makes the encounter a lot worse than it should be.
And plus, they have a class level in one of the strongest 1st level classes in the game, with a lot of front-loaded bonuses that would shred most anyone of equivalent level.
Granted, they aren't impossible to defeat as a level 1 character, since their biggest weakness is still save/suck spells. Color Spray, Daze, even Sleep will take them out of fights if the spellcaster is optimized. As far as a comparable martial is concerned, fighting fire with fire is really the only real option here. Paladins might work, though a 1/day Smite won't cut it against a group of 2-6 of these guys, and they lack a lot of their other big features at 1st level.
But suggesting that they're CR 1 level enemies is a joke, since those attributes and statistics are all over the place; the AC of a typical CR 5 creature (lowered to CR 4 while raging), The attack bonus of a CR 2 creature (boosting to CR 3 while raging), with the damage of a CR 2 creature (again, boosting to CR 3 while raging), with all Good saves of a CR 2 creature (again, boosting to CR 3 while raging), more accurately puts this creature at a CR of the 3-4 range, if going by comparable stats.
Throwing one of these guys as a boss goblin with a bunch of regular goblins at a party is fair. Throwing 2-6 of these goblins at a party is not much different than throwing a Wraith at them, since these goblins can most likely 1-shot any of them just like a Wraith can, and a Wraith is likewise a CR 3 foe with a whole bunch of troubles ahead. Ironically enough, a prepared party can handle said Wraith better than these goblins, whereas even a prepared party can be slaughtered if the rolls aren't in their favor.