PRO FOOTBALL REPORT / WEEKDAY UPDATE : NFC : New Sod for Candlestick Park Field

About half of the field at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, soaked by weeks of rain and torn up by last week’s playoff game, will be resodded for Sunday’s NFC championship game between the 49ers and the Dallas Cowboys.

Under the supervision of NFL turf consultant George Toma, groundskeepers on Monday peeled off the top layer of chewed-up turf in preparation for resodding, which will begin today. Most of the new turf will go in the center of the field in a swath 90 feet wide, with more being installed in front of the south goal line.

“It shouldn’t be slimy and muddy because it’s a little newer and better sod,” said Toma, adding the project should be completed by Wednesday. “Once you put that sod down, it will not kick up because it’s so heavy.”

The field conditions became an issue during the 49ers’ 20-13 victory last Saturday over the Washington Redskins.

More than five inches of rain has fallen in San Francisco since Jan. 1 and more rain is forecast for this week.

“That’s what we’re worried about,” he said. “If we get a gullywasher, we’ll have trouble.”

To aid drainage, groundskeepers will punch about 36 pencil-sized holes in each square foot of turf.