Wales made a superb start to their defence of the World Cup but Irish pair Padraig Harrington and Paul McGinley are nicely placed just three shots off the lead after the opening round of play in Barbados.
Dredge and Stephen Dodd raced to the turn in 31 in the first day's fourballs at Sandy Lane with five birdies and no bogeys, despite strong winds and occasional heavy downpours.
"We got off to a great start and played the front nine exactly how we wanted - and then Bradley opened his big mouth and mentioned that on the 10th tee!" joked Dodd.
Both players promptly found the penal rough on the 10th and managed just one birdie on the back nine but were satisfied to card a six-under-par 65 to lie just one shot behind leaders South Africa, Argentina and Sweden.
"We are a little disappointed because we had a few chances on the back nine but, on the whole, we're satisfied with the day's play," added Dodd, who was grateful for the rain when his approach to the fourth bounced off a spectator's umbrella and onto the green.
"The front nine is where you're going to make your score, the back nine plays much harder."
Pre-tournament favourites England were a shot behind on five under after rallying with three birdies in the last five holes.
Luke Donald and David Howell, second behind Wales last year in Portugal when the final round was cancelled due to torrential rain, were only one under par after 10 holes before a late rush sparked by Howell's brilliant approach to within inches of the hole on the 11th.
Scotland join Ireland just three shots off the lead after rounds of 67, while qualifiers Switzerland prop up the field on two over par.
McGinley felt he and Ryder Cup team-mate Harrington "left a few shots out on the course" but could be forgiven for not making birdie at the sixth.
The 1997 winners played the 521-yard par five at the height of one of the squalls passing over the course and McGinley revealed: "We both hit our drives as well as possible and they went 190 yards!
"I hit driver, three-wood and then six-iron to the green. We had two birdies each, which isn't enough in fourballs, but at least we are in touching distance after a good birdie on the 18th from Padraig."
Harrington added: "Over 72 holes, it should even out so hopefully we are due to make a few putts. We have to be patient but I'd prefer to have one of our good days in the foursomes - that can make a huge difference."
Collated first-round scores (Par 71)
Fourballs
64South Africa (Richard Sterne/Rory Sabbatini), Argentina (Angel Cabrera/Andres Romero), Sweden (Henrik Stenson/Carl Pettersson)
65Germany (Bernhard Langer/Marcel Siem), Wales (Bradley Dredge/Stephen Dodd)
66United States (Stewart Cink/JJ Henry), England (Luke Donald/David Howell), South Korea (SK Ho, Charlie Wi)
67Colombia (Camilo Villegas/Manuel Marizalde), Japan (Tetsuji Hiratsuka/Hideto Tanihara), Ireland (Padraig Harrington/Paul McGinley), Scotland (Colin Montgomerie/Marc Warren)
68Australia (John Senden/Mark Hensby), France (Raphael Jacquelin/Jean Van de Velde), Italy (Francesco Molinari/Emanuele Canonica)
69Spain (Miguel Angel Jimenez/Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano), Canada (Mike Weir/Jim Rutledge), Mexico (Esteban Toledo/Octavio Gonzalez), Barbados (James Johnson/Roger Beale)
70Denmark (Thomas Bjorn/Soren Hansen), Trinidad and Tobago (Stephen Ames/Robert Ames)
71Singapore (Mardan Mamat/Chih-Bing Lam)
72Jamaica (Peter Horrobin/Delroy Cambridge)
73Switzerland (Nicolas Sulzer/Martin Rominger)
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