Gents:
In regards to new courses -- a waiting period of no less than two years would be a good thing to avoid the quick impulses that too many people provide.
I've never quite understood this logic. Sure, there are some things in life -- golf courses among them -- that it may take awhile to realize their greatness. But some things -- the Pretenders 1st album, for instance -- are instantly recognizable as great. Why not a golf course?
Phil:
I agree in general ... in fact, there's a whole thread going on right now about "love at first sight" golf courses.
At the same time, could you judge where The Pretenders fit in with other great musical groups, based on your first listen to that one album? It's one thing to say they belong, but another to say WHERE they belong, exactly. So I agree with you, and with Matt. But I'm glad they are doing the rankings asap, anyway. 
Tom:
When the Pretenders first album came out, in 1980, it was (for me, a pretty fanatical musical devotee at the time) instantly better, on one hearing, than 99.8 percent of everything else that was being released at the time. Thirty years later, it still stands out as a terrific album -- never quite matched by the group, largely because James Honeyman-Scott and his ethereal guitar work died of a cocaine overdose two years later. Where that particular album stands in the annals of rock-n-roll is different for me than where the group stands (perhaps similar to how one architect's course stands out beyond the body of his work).
To me, in golf, it was Lawsonia. First time I set foot on that course, I knew it was a) different, and b) great. Subsequent plays have revealed many different aspects to the course that I didn't appreciate or even see the first time around (like how to really play the 8th hole), but the sense of it being great was evident the first time around.