I'm curious if there are any studies which look at how green contours change over time.
I am aware of several courses in Chicago that apparently have not altered their green complexes since they were built. Perhaps most notable among them would be Chicago Golf Club after the Seth Raynor redo and there many other courses that have not substantively altered their greens over time. I have cited CGC as an example since they architecturally significant greens with a lot of amazing character and contour, but this question could apply to any course with older greens.
In any event I'm looking to find any studies or even reliable anecdotal reports that have looked at this question of how greens change over time and how one would go about attempting to determine the original green contours of a course. I'm very curious if there are any accepted practices, standards or procedures in this area.
Thanks in advance.