Bill,
You've got a great trip lined up and since you're along for the ride there is no real point in suggesting changes to what your organiser has in the books. You'll love it!
More generally, if someone was to ask me for East Lothian trip advise for a week coming from the US, then this would be it:
Monday:
Arrive into EDI, play Dunbar to kill the one drive of the trip (only 40 mins from EDI, then 20 mins to NB after the round), stay in North Berwick for the 5 nights - lots of options for a bed, food and drink - plus the train into Edinburgh.
Dunbar may be guilty of a slow start but whether it be psychological or not, once you go through the wall to the 4th it picks up immediately with a fun short par 4, an interesting raised green par 3 over what would otherwise be flat land, then you navigate between the coast and a huge stone wall for the next few holes.
The highlights for me are hole 4, the punchbowl style green on 7, the drive on 9, 12 which wouldn't be out of place on many coastal courses, another cool green on 13, then the par 3 16th has an optical illusion quality going on with the aforementioned wall behind the green that tends to play with the golfer's mind.
Tuesday:
Gullane No.1 and No.2 - they do a deal on both courses in a day. Actually, they do a week pass for the 3 courses so if you have time/energy to squeeze in No.3 one day its a fun, quick round.
For some reason No.1 gets a hard time and I can see why in some instances but it's still 3rd or 4th place in East Lothian for me which makes it well worth the visit. 2, 4, 9, 12, 13, 15 will be the more memorable holes for most. 15 green is wild.
Gullane No.2 is oft remembered for the hike up the 3rd hole but once on top, the holes flow nicely enough. The really interesting stretch comes at the long downhill par 3 11th, long par 4 12th out to Aberlady Bay, 13th back up the hill, then the hard dogleg left 14th. It then runs out of steam but perfectly pleasurable and a great walk.
Weds:
Kilspindie as the charmer - still under the radar to the masses and buckets of fun with at least a handful of very interesting holes. 4, 8 and 18 will put stars in your eyes. Nice easy walk, fantastic views and as authentic a Scottish clubhouse as you'll get to experience.
Musselburgh Old for 9 holes with hickories if you want to tick a box. I love how hickory golf can reset your scoring expectations, plus there are a couple of greens out there that are pretty interesting such as 4 and 6.
If Musselburgh doesn't appeal to you and you're a 36 hole a day golfer then Luffness New (1894!) fits in nicely here but Weds afternoon can be a popular member time to play. The par 3 3rd always makes me think, then the 5th is one of the stronger holes off the tee with a very interesting green at the end of it. I think the 7th here leaves the 7th at Gullane No.1 for dead; almost as good a vista and far better hole in my opinion, as it's not as "hit and hope" as 7 at G No.1.
8, 10, 11, 17 are the other strong takeaways from Luffness New. Mainly for interesting greens but the tee shots on 8 and 10 provide entertainment, along with the semi-blind approach and bunkering on 17. The 11th is a very well bunkered short par 4 with yet another interesting green.
Thurs:
Splash the cash and do the 36 holer at Muirfield with the lunch.
Muirfield is often lauded for the routing but the stand-alone holes are excellent in terms of variety and interest. The set of par-3 are very well bunkered, the par 4s stout but for me the par-5s are the unsung heros of the course. Each one different in challenge from the last and how many courses can you say that about? I often think they must be the hardest holes to design and keep the golfers engaged that can't go fo the green in two.
Muirfield is certainly intimidating off the tee but once you're down the hole you invariably find that the fairways are far more generous than reputed on these pages. It's the best day in golf for me, the PM foursomes being a must not miss round of the week.
Friday:
A week in East Lothian has to finish at North Berwick and why not treat yourself to 36 holes here too? A great deal with the day ticket. It's much discussed and I'm unashamedly biased, but the best back-9 I've seen if it's architectural interest you are after. My favourite hole on the course is the 12th but 11 might just be the best par 5 in East Lothian, with the diagonal ridge guarding the front of the green being the feature that dictates success or failure. I don't need to talk about 2, 3, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 and then 18 which in some quarters is deemed a weak finish; I class as a wonderful matchplay finisher.
Pound for pound, NB might be the best matchplay course you could ever play a match over. The Walker Cup might be the only men's event the course could hold in the modern day and one that I'd love to see.
Sat:
Fly home
If you want to spend a little more and/or see some of Tom's work then Renaissance is most affordable on a Monday or Wednesday which dovetails nicely with the Muirfield visitor days. They have a one time experience so access is granted if you've not visited before, and simply fill out a form. I confuse myself with talk of Old 4, New 1 and Tournament 10 (all the same hole)...but in terms of the hole numbers the members play, then 1, 4, 7, 8, 14 and the 15th and the holes I really like.
That week of suggestions assumes you are golf daft and want to play until you drop. I'm more like 18-36-18-36-18, personally.
Dinners:
££££ = Bonnie Badger, Greywalls, La Potiniere
£££ = Osteria, The Main Course, The Old Clubhouse, The Grange
££ = Herringbone, Zittos, Poon Thais, Nether Abbey, The Rocketeer (sit down version of Lobster Shack 100 yards away from the Harbour)
£ = Turkish Kebab House does really good fish and chips, especially around 5pm when it's all fresh out of the fryer!
The number of good courses is not just limited to the above but you wouldn't necessarily need to rent a car if you followed that list. You could taxi everywhere within 10-15 minutes and have airport transfers lined up in advance.
If you stay in North Berwick there is The Marine, North Berwick Golf Lodge B&B, Nether Abbey and plenty of others you can search for online. Gullane and Aberlady are lovely wee villages, but for ease and a bit more atmosphere then NB wins hands down - that said, in my list of better restaurants, Gullane wins out!
For the whisky lovers Glenkinchie Distillery is 20 mins away from NB and they do tours and tastings.
Hopefully that is of help to someone out there.