It happens to us all — you can’t find your ball, or when you do, it’s just out of bounds.
When your ball goes out of bounds or is lost outside a water hazard, Rule 27-1 requires you to return to the spot from which the original ball was last played, and under penalty of one stroke, put another ball into play. Since this could be more than 200 yards back, it takes time to go back, hit another ball and return.