Youth was served during the 2006 golf season in Arizona, along with shining solo performances and big sums of money. A look back at the top 10 stories:

1. Choe & Francis feted

Scottsdale’s Esther Choe and Philip Francis are named the Rolex Players of the Year, the first time both winners came from the same city since the American Junior Golf Association was formed in 1978. Seven other East Valley teens earned AJGA national honors including Taylore Karle, Drew Kittleson, Richard Lee, Andrew Yun, Tim McKenney, Kristen Schelling, and Kimberly Kim. Like, wow!

2. FBR raises charity bar

The purse stayed the same -- $5.2 million -- but the contribution to charity went way, way up, as the FBR Open broke the all-time mark on the PGA Tour by raising $6.8 million for needy causes. The Thunderbirds, the civic organization that sponsors and runs the tournament, have pledged to eclipse that mark this year, and are so confident they will do it they recently raised the FBR’s purse to $6 million.

3. Francis wins Junior Am

Philip Francis has won over 100 junior golf titles, but none can compare to the shiny silver cup the UCLA-bound standout captured at the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship in August. Incredibly, the national championship came down to an all-East Valley final, as the 17-year-old Francis never trailed in defeating Chandler’s Richard Lee, 3 and 2, in 36 holes at Rancho Santa Fe Golf Club in southern California.

4. Xavier girls go low

Perhaps another high school golf team has won a state title by 82 shots, we’re not sure. But led by Tiger Woods’ niece, Cheyenne Woods, and its longtime coach, Sister Lynn Winsor, that’s just what the Gators did this fall in a record romp. It was Xavier’s 25 th state championship – the school has won the last nine state titles in a row -- under the watch of the coach known as “Sista.’’

5. Yrene makes PGA cut

Don Yrene not only had a top-10 finish at the PGA National Club Pro, the head professional at the Golf Club Scottsdale also made the cut at the PGA Championship at Chicago’s famed Medinah Golf Club, where he was low club pro. It brought up a light-hearted moment when Yrene ran into the eventual champ, Tiger Woods, on the practice tee at Medinah on the weekend, prompting Tiger to say, “Don, what are you doing here?”

6. Goldwater passes

Bob Goldwater, known as the “Father of the Phoenix Open’’ for his pioneering leadership with the PGA Tour event, died in November at the age of 96. “Goldie’’ also was known for his golfing prowess, winning the 1925 Arizona Amateur at the age of 15, and adding Amateur titles in 1935 and ’50. His legacy is the Bob Goldwater Cup matches that annually pit the state’s top pros against the amateurs. He will be missed.

7. Kellaney tests pro ranks

Arguably Arizona’s greatest amateur, Ken Kellaney took a shot at the Champions Tour, where he ended up in a tie for 53 rd place, not quite good enough to earn status for next season. Because he didn’t have to declare being a pro until after the qualifier, the Phoenix banker is back playing in this weekend’s Arizona State Stroke Play Championship, gunning for a record 10 th player of the year honor.

8. Inkster denies Sorenstam

Annika Sorenstam came to the LPGA Safeway International at Superstition Mountain Golf Club seeking a three-peat, but Juli Inkster got in her way. For the record, Sorenstam ended up in a tie for 19 th place, as Inkster snapped a two-year drought. What was strange was the tournament ended “under the lights’’, as cold and rain delayed the finish until 6:40 p.m. Perect conditions for one of the game’s all-time grinders.

9. Ogilvy emerges

Austrailian Geoff Ogilvy, who spends more time these days at his home in Scottsdale than Down Under, was the surprising winner of the U.S. Open when former East Valley resident Phil Mickelson collapsed on the 72 nd hole. Ogilvy, playing the group in front of Mickelson, thought his 5-foot putt for par was for second place, but it turned out good enough to win him his first major championship.

10. “Mr. 59’’

Playing in the third round of the Arizona Open at the Outlaw Course at Desert Mountain, Stephen Marino blitzed the course for a 13-under-par 59 – nine birdies, two eagles and no bogeys. Not only did the former Grey Goose Gateway Tour player from Florida set the course record, he got the tournament record, too. Three months later,

Marino qualified for the PGA Tour, with a Q School-best 62 paving the way.