Somewhere in the past year I came across a thread in which Ran M. discussed the issue, and (paraphrasing now...) he said there is something to admire about courses that aren't 18 holes of perfection, ala Sand Hills (meaning, SH is viewed as 18 wonderful holes). He liked courses that had imperfections, or ones that had holes that generated strenuous debate about their merits.
That's probably different than the debate about Garden City's 12th, which -- having never played there -- seems to be about altering an original portion of the course that is incongruous with the rest of it. It may be more similar to the debate about the 18th at Cypress Point, which even the World Atlas of Golf has described as the world's best 17-hole golf course.