I have played WH many times over the past 10 or 15 years and it is one of my favorite places to play golf. That is not entirely a commentary on the design, because the views make up a lot of the experience and there are few better places to have lunch, than the back porch overlooking the 9th green. Still, the views and overall experience matter.
I am not sure how I would rank it and I think a lot of those rankings are pointless anyway. It may be higher than I would have expected, but I do think it is a very good design and I am not sure I understand the complaints that it is a formulaic Fazio course. I have played many TF courses and while I enjoy most of them, I do agree that many of them "feel" similar. WH, however, does not fall into that category in my opinion. It is pretty and playable, which I suppose is typical of TF, but I think the course fits naturally into its setting much better than some of Tom's other work. I think WH has some of the best natural greensites I have played. I am not sure how much earth was moved in construction, but they certainly feel natural. The course also has a very good routing which makes it walkable despite the terrain. The hike up to the first tee and the transition from the 5th green to the 6th tee are the only awkward spots.
Favorite holes: 2, 3, 6, 9, 10, 13, 15, 16, 17
Least favorite: 1, 5, 8, 18
In general, there are quite a lot of good newer golf courses in the mountains of NC, in addition, to the older classics like Linville, Grandfather, Highlands CC and Roaring Gap.
In addition to the courses mentioned previously, I think Cullasaja is an underappreciated course in the Highlands/Cashiers area (Palmer). There are some bad holes and they made a mess of the housing near the lake, but it is also fairly walkable and very fun. I have never gotten bored with it.
If you want to see an engineering marvel (if not a great course) check out the front nine at Highland Cove. It looks like it may fall off the side of the mountain.