PHOTO PROVIDED - Austin Peters poses with his trophy haul after winning the South Central PGA Professional Championship on Tuesday at Jimmie Austin OU Golf Club in Norman, Okla. Peters shot 68-69—137 to finish 7-under-par and prevail by one stroke.

NORMAN, Okla. — Seven years removed from his PGA debut, Reinbeck native Austin Peters is back within striking distance.

Peters, a 2005 Gladbrook-Reinbeck High School graduate, won the South Central PGA Professional Championship on Monday and Tuesday at Jimmie Austin OU Golf Club, shooting 68-69–137 to finish 7-under-par and prevail by one stroke over Chris Tidland of Stillwater Country Club.

Peters, the general manager at The Territory Golf and Country Club in Duncan, Okla., advances to the 2023 PGA Professional Championship from April 30-May 3, 2023, at Twin Warriors and Santa Ana Pueblo Golf Clubs in Santa Ana Pueblo, N.M. A top-20 finish in New Mexico means a second chance at the PGA Championship.

“Finally captured a Section Championship!” Peters posted on his Facebook account. “Was able to put together a couple of sub-par rounds with a bad 68, missing a lot of close putts, and a good 69 today. Where I didn’t hit it as well but was able to make a couple important putts to hold on.”

Peters was the only golfer to card two rounds below 70, clinging to the lead and the one-stroke victory. Tidland shot the day’s lowest round of 5-under-par 67 to climb to 6-under for the tournament. Peters bogeyed the par-3 15th hole to fall to even on the back nine, but Tidland closed his round with five straight pars and was unable to catch the former G-R Rebel.

Peters, 35, left his post at The Golf Club at Copper Valley in Copperopolis, Calif., in April for the general manager position in Oklahoma that he started in May.

“Thank you to everyone including The Territory for helping brush up my game the past few months,” Peters wrote. “Couldn’t be happier with how this life is turning out!”

In 2015, Peters tied for fifth at the PGA Professional Championships in Philadelphia, earning a spot in the 97th PGA Championship at Whistling Straits Golf Course near Sheboygan, Wis. He finished 152nd out of 156 golfers, missing the cut as well as the last two rounds of golf.

In the 2016 PGA Professional Championship, Peters had a disastrous final round and finished last out of 70 golfers in his quest for a second consecutive PGA Championship berth.

The 2023 PGA Championship is as Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, N.Y.