Man Bowls Perfect Game Using Ball Filled With Late Father's Ashes

This is going to hit you right in the feels.

A man in Illinois gave the ultimate tribute to his late father this month ... by filling a bowling ball with Dad's ashes -- and then bowling a PERFECT GAME!!!

38-year-old John Hinkle -- a 2-time NCAA bowling champion from Western Illinois University -- wanted to honor his dad, John Sr., following his death in 2016.

Since his father introduced him to the sport he loves so much, John spent years trying to find someone able to fill the thumb hole of a bowling ball with John Sr.'s ashes ... and vowed to one day bowl a perfect game with it.

On April 12, John hit up his hometown alley in Peoria, Illinois ... and set his eyes on perfection.

John told his brother, Joe, about his goal before the game ... saying, "I'm shooting a 300 with this ball ... And Joe said, 'Do it!,'" he told WMBD in Illinois.

And guess what -- he did it!!

John was overcome with emotions as he approached perfection ... saying, "I had tears in my eyes in the 11th and 12th frames. I couldn’t tell you where that last ball went, I had so many tears just throwing it," he told the outlet.

John -- who has hit several perfect games over the years -- says this was the "best and definitely the hardest" 300 he's ever had in his career.

"It’s special. Dad shot 298, 299, never had a 300. I had goosebumps, chills."