I'm sure this has been discussed in the past, but I've often wondered how many of the old guys "designed" golf courses in the past when travel was certainly more difficult than it is today. For this purpose I'd like to focus on Donald Ross, based on the number of courses credited to his name. Obviously he has some designs, like #2 where he lived, refined and was intimately involved with all aspects, but I don't assume that was the case with most.
For example, I know Exmoor and Skokie in the northern suburbs of Chicago claim Donald Ross extensively redesigned their current courses in 1914. It would be my assumption, that Ross would take a trip to Chicago, see the sites, spend some time with topography maps and return home with the maps. At that point, I assume he'd finalize the plans and send them back to the club for someone locally to carry out the plans. Is this generally how things worked? If a lot of detail exists in prior threads, I'd like to read them.