" My question is this, when was the earliest use of true contour lines and who used them? Any ideas?"
Neil:
That's a very good question. As far as I know that question may've been touched on in the past on this website but I don't think any real research was done on it.
Pretty amazing it hasn't as after-all how important is really good green design in both length, width but primarily internal slope and contouring? Really important, I'd say.
For instance how did the world class slope and contour greens of PVGC and Merion East actually get designed and built in the early teens? How about NGLA's world class greens before the teens?
As far as I know green design and contour drawings of those courses' greens never existed. And, come to think of it that may also explain why a number of the greens at NGLA, Merion East and PVGC too were altered a good deal by their original architects (and in the case of PVGC others early on after Crump's death at 46) (This is actually very interesting--eg #1 green was never altered, nor #2, #3 was slated to be slightly but I don't believe it was, #4 never, #5 by Crump who didn't like the look of its shape, #6 was, as was #7, #8, #9 bigtime, #11 bigtime, #12 was undergoing alteration at his death, #17 was altered big-time, and of course the famous "pimple" was removed from #18 by JABrown. The great on-going green mystery of PVGC was who actually built or perhaps even designed the green details of #12 finished product, #13, #14 and #15?. Was it the Wilsons of Merion, or perhaps their Man Flynn (letter from H. Wilson says Flynn will take over in Spring of 1919 for 3-4 days a week), or perhaps even constant Crump collaborator and constant fellow "shot tester", PVGC's pro, club-maker, pretty much sole construction foreman right on through, by way of St Andrew's Shinnecock and St David's, George Govan? One thing is certain, George Govan worked on the course every day beginning in March 1914 through the work of the 1921 Advisory Committee. In early 1914 Govan and his family and Crump were the only ones who actually lived at PV).
Some say Colt was the first to really do comprehensive architectural drawings. He probably was but if his drawings of PVGC are a good example the green design was really amorphous in his drawings. The best he did there on green construction was an occasional text remark such as "raise right side of green", and in only one instance he apparently left a cross-section drawing behind but that may not have even been him.
Recently Paul Turner who may be one of the best authorities on the details of Colt said he thinks Colt just staked greens in the field but on a course like PVGC there's no way he could've done that for pretty obvious reasons---ie when he left for the last time most all of the course wasn't close to that kind of input.
It looks to me like Ross may've started doing comprehensive green drawings around the end of WW1 as did Flynn.
Alison did some beautiful free-hand drawing for some greens at PVGC in 1921 with a ton of textual instruction and his usual point a, b, c, d, with numerical relationship fall et al.
It's a great question and the good researchers on here should go to town and see how early they can actually document comprehensive green contour drawings or instructions etc. And not just assume, actually produce the evidence.