For obvious reasons, any find of pre-construction contour maps of famous old (golden era) courses, or any courses pre-1940s would be a rare find. To have a decent pre-construction topo, and to have the oportunity to bring it to the field and walk the land, comparing what was, and what was done is a GCA.com freak's wetdream.
I've walked several land parcels with a good 2' ele contour map on 1"=100 and 200'. It is a blast. It takes a while to get the hang of it. Then, you start to develop an ability to just look at the contour map and generally visualize the nature and slope of the terrain. I actually did this a number of times where I only generally viewed some land, without a serious walkabout, then got a decent topo and routed what I thought was interesting possible routing - then taken it in the field to see how wrong I was. But, then adjusting and making notes and markers on the map from being on the ground, one can go back and have a more realistic chance to lay something out, and begin to see the land on the paper. It is a blast.
But, doing so on famous old courses - that is like getting a Phd. in gcageekdom.